Prostate Artery Embolization (PAE) with PCa

Posted by WingNut @ucfron, Aug 17 11:40am

I have a meeting with a Dr at Moffitt in Tampa to discuss Prostate Artery Embolization (PAE) to improve urinary function prior to radiation treatment. Has anyone done or heard of this before? The hope is also to reduce the prostate size allowing for less radiation IBRT traditional radiation treatments since my MiraDx/Prostox test can back saying I’m not a great candidate for SBRT. Also hoping PAE may allow me to look at focal therapies instead. If nothing else PAE may slow down the tumor growth to allow my to look at Proton Therapy since Moffit opens their Proton Facilty in May 2026. If anyone knows more about PAE and if there are any side affects like ED please let me know.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Prostate Cancer Support Group.

Profile picture for WingNut @ucfron

Great comments thanks. In need to look into Tulsa. Tell me about your diagnosis. I am 62 very healthy and active, PSA was at 4.5 in Feb 2025 but last check in July 2025 is went down to 3.2 which is confusing. MRI in April 2025 found PIRAD 5 lesson 2.2 cm in the transitional zone so inside the prostate between the two layers. May 13 core MRI guided biopsy found area of concern had 70% abnormal with only 5% of that 4 the rest 3, so 3+4=7. Followed up with CT w/contrast and PSMA PET no spread. ArteraAI says cancer is very low grade only giving a .7% chance on metastification in 10 years. MiraDx/Prostox test says I’m not a good candidate for SBRT (only IBRT) due to a 95% chance of having long term grade2 level toxicity and urinary issues, so I’m looking at other options.

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Aquablation works well with transition area lesions. I think a Dr. Helfand in the Chicago area: Northwest Hospitals. Initially only allowed for BPH it may be approved for Pc now or both diagnoses required?

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Yes I had PAE done 10/17/23 because it was the least aggressive and had promising results they told me similar to TURP. It did help for a while . Maximum benefit was seen at about 3 months but still had to use flomax. My prostate size was around 80. It did help it shrink to the mid 50s. After 6 months they want to take a MRI to determine the size and that’s when they picked up the prostate cancer. Began extensive research and visits to many doctors and settled on cyberknife. Also had to take Orgovyx for 3 months before and 3 months after the procedure which also shrunk the prostate. As a precaution I doubled up on the flomax a few days before the radiation as I didn’t want any problems urinating after. All went well but Im still taking 1 flomax a day which is fine and I’m urinating ok and very happy deciding on cyberknife. As for the prostox test which I would have had it done but it’s not approved in NY it might have changed my opinion if it came back that I wasn’t a good candidate. The most important part of the entire process is in my opinion is finding the best doctor at a high volume hospital that you feel very confident with and feel a connection. I found that doctor at NYU Langone with Dr Jonathan Haas. Look him up and see the YouTube videos with him. I used Dr Fishman at Mount Sinai for the PAE also on YouTube. I wish you much success in this process.

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Profile picture for WingNut @ucfron

Watch this video. They talk about a reduction and in some cases the complete elimination of the cancerous tumor after PAE. Essentially stopping blood flow to it stops its growth and in some cases kills it. I wouldn’t rely on this but it can’t hurt in my situation.

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Thank you so much. It gave us a bit of hope before his procedure. We talked with the IR on Monday when my husband had his PAE. He said he goes into the right and left branches on prostate, sometimes it does shrink it, sometimes it can kill it…but that they do not pinpoint the area of PC specifically. The procedure went really well. The Dr was satisfied that it would decrease his prostate size. Then we just continue with AS as Moffitt suggests. He’s looking forward to being off the finesteride and Rappaflo. Thanks again!

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Is it.normal to urinate alot after PAE surgery? I am going about every 5 minutesfor the last 14 hours or so. I have even stopped drinking and still i am up.

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Profile picture for btm7 @btm7

Is it.normal to urinate alot after PAE surgery? I am going about every 5 minutesfor the last 14 hours or so. I have even stopped drinking and still i am up.

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@btm7

Did they give you phenazopyridine (like Azo usually a red pill, changes color of pee) and ciprofloxacin (antibiotic)? I think I took those for a week. If not call in for them.

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Profile picture for bjroc @bjroc

Can't guarantee my links below, some links may not still be available.

Don't take all of these each day, just find ones you like, I did rotations but these were the ones I would say I like:
Boron
Lycopene/Tomato
Neem and Ginger
Crinum Latifolium
CLA and Modified citrus pectin
Iodine
Boswellia
Also take some NAC for your liver

Boron - 6 mg, liquid
Boron Reduces Prostate Cancer Risk
Nothing Boring About Boron
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4712861/
"has demonstrated preventive and therapeutic effects in a number of cancers, such as prostate, cervical, and lung cancers, and multiple and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma"
Dietary boron intake and prostate cancer risk
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15010890/
Lycopene, 20 mg
The Potential Role of Lycopene for the Prevention and Therapy of Prostate Cancer: From Molecular Mechanisms to Clinical Evidence
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3742263/
Lycopene effects contributing to prostate health
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20155615/
Is there a benefit from lycopene supplementation in men with prostate cancer? A systematic review
https://www.nature.com/articles/pcan200938
Neem, Ginger
Ginger
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3426621/
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jbt.22611
Neem
Neem components as potential agents for cancer prevention and treatment
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4734358/
Consumption of a bioactive compound from Neem plant could significantly suppress development of prostate cancer

Crinum Latifolium
Crinum Latifolium Leave Extracts Suppress Immune Activation Cascades in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells and Proliferation of Prostate Tumor Cells:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3134856/
CLA and modified citrus pectin
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14976130/
Both discussed:
https://www.lifeextension.com/magazine/1999/10/report4
Boswellia Serrata / Frankincense
https://aacrjournals.org/cancerres/article/68/4/1180/542608/Acetyl-Keto-Boswellic-Acid-Induces-Apoptosis
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S000629520800172X
Iodine (more advanced should use, not for everyone)
I don't have a thyroid (cancer) so I can take a fair amount or a lot, but don't do that if you have a thyroid, just a slight amount over RDA.
The Link Between Prostate Cancer and Iodine
https://www.biowarriornutrition.com/blogs/blog-page/the-link-between-prostate-cancer-and-iodine
A prospective study of iodine status, thyroid function, and prostate cancer risk: follow-up of the First National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17571964/
Iodine Uptake and Prostate Cancer in the TRAMP Mouse Model
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3883964/
Just be aware the taking of iodine and not having good or adequate selenium levels is a known trigger to cause Hashimoto's disease. So that means if you choose to take iodine or more than RDA, have your primary care run a selenium lab first because if it is deficient that can cause a bad outcome.

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See also this guy who uses completely differing supplements and has some success, my supplements didn't ever lower PSA, I find ones that reduce PSA not great as they are often just like taking finasteride. Anyway, this person uses other supplements than I mentions above:
https://iloweredmypsa.com/

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@bjroc This is interesting. I don’t know why hospitals don’t look closer at using supplements early on in diagnosis’s. Does anyone know who I can contact to help with what and how much to take? Is there a Dr of some kind that can regulate and prescribe doses.

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Profile picture for WingNut @ucfron

@bjroc This is interesting. I don’t know why hospitals don’t look closer at using supplements early on in diagnosis’s. Does anyone know who I can contact to help with what and how much to take? Is there a Dr of some kind that can regulate and prescribe doses.

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@ucfron @wingnut

When it comes to supplements, most work will be your own. NIH had the office of alternative medicine, at one time anyway back some decades, which mostly got closed the last 20 years till now they just make a few pamphlets. Something along the lines of an "NIH complimentary medicine institute" would be needed, and well it doesn't exist.

My primary care did regular medicine for a few decades but switched to "holistic" primary care and charges outside medicare coding for help in these areas. You can find some other doctors like that. But and I will say one has to be very careful. In the prostate there is too much focus on 5-alpha reductase inhibitors and these are available as prescriptions (dutasteride and finasteride) and the prescriptions work better than OTC products aimed at the same method of action.

So one is left to look on their own, and if you are looking for anti-cancer properties well just know that 5-alpha reductase inhibitors don't do that as an endpoint. So that eliminates much of what is sold for prostates OTC or prescription. I focused a lot on going around the 5-alpha reductase inhibitors trap that most supplement sellers focus on in prostate supplements, plus what I could easily take and not negatively impact my liver enzymes and so on. So I do a lot on my own, and if interested learning on your own then realize most things sold are just 5-alpha reductase inhibitors which you are better off getting a prescription for one if that is the method of action you want.

So anyway that is how I worked it, but others also found what I found, most of these things work on Gleason 3 but they have a harder time working on Gleason 4 cells. Maybe if an "NIH complimentary medicine institute" studied and gave grants for effects on Gleason 4 cells we could get somewhere with supplements and PCa but you won't find that just yet. The future has these possibilities but no time soon anyway.

So mostly one is on their own is the long and short of that, but watch the liver for negative impacts, tell all your doctors what you take, and if you have any holistic doctor in your area it might help.

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Anyone considering using supplements might consider getting a subscription to CONSUMERLAB. It has been giving good advice for 20 some years. It is run by an MD who verifies the contents. There is no product advertising. I found out that the cinnamon product I used was dangerously high in lead,

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