Connect
← Return to Tulsa Pro Experience, Mayo Clinic MN – July 2024
Discussion
Tulsa Pro Experience, Mayo Clinic MN – July 2024
Prostate Cancer | Last Active: 5 days ago | Replies (85)Comment receiving replies
I am 66 and considering the TULSA as well. I am a little concerned as some of the report of unreliable post treatment monitoring ie. is PSA still accurate after treatment. Also, how do you know the biopsy done is not missing cancerous tissue? I have on spot Gleason 6 and one spot Gleason 3+4=7. I am a good candidate by recommendation of Dr. Woodrum's Team.
Worried about post treatment assessment and return for possible other cancer. Curious about percentage of people who have recurring cancer but like minimal side effects.
I know this is a newer therapy.
Appreciate any feedback.
Replies to "I am 66 and considering the TULSA as well. I am a little concerned as some..."
Regardless of what treatment you choose, you’re going to have the 20 to 40% chance of recurrence that Jeff mentions in his reply. I asked Doctor Woodrum that question about Tulsa at my one year follow up. He had just come back from an ablation conference and said the early results look very good with a 15 to 20% recurrence. I know that is not long-term data yet, but it is right in line with what other treatments are at three years out. I have never heard about any unreliable PSA test after Tulsa. My extensive monitoring after the procedure is what gave me complete confidence in trying Tulsa.
I had TULSA done at 68 years of age. Total gland ablation was performed for a 3+3 Gleason, with nine out of 30 cores positive for cancer. At 3 months post-TULSA, my PSA was 0.10, and my MRI results at 6 months ( see above ) show no cancer. My PSMA before TULSA showed no uptake, not even in the prostate, though the biopsy indicated cancer. I had two tumors and some mild BPH. It looks like TULSA resolved all of those issues.
Post-TULSA experience was zero pain, seriously, zero pain from the treatment. I had two medications for bladder spasm and the feeling that I sometimes needed to pee. I rarely took those for the 12 days I had a catheter.
You can have your prostate removed, and still have a chance of cancer returning. I looked for a procedure that was minimally invasive, low pain, quick recovery, did not limit any future treatment that hopefully I would not need, and did not require me to have the prostate removed. TULSA was the answer for me. At 6 months, I appear to be cancer-free. I will see what my URO wants to do, maybe another MRI at 1 year post-TULSA. I'm not sure what he will want to do, but right now I am delighted and grateful.
Connect
Around 30% (the rule is 20-40%) of people have recurrence after initial treatment for prostate cancer, But that is a number based on all different types of treatments.
A few people in here have had Tulsa-pro And have commented how much they liked results. Long-term results are not really available since it’s not been around for all day long.
Yes, a PSA test after Tulsa is just as useful.
You are correct, Many people that have surgery find out their Gleason score is higher. For myself, I was told 3+4 after biopsy and 4+3 after surgery. I’ve heard from a lot of people that have had upgrades to 4+4 or 4+5 after surgery. The prostate biopsy after surgery can find many other things in the prostate that are not known because a biopsy only hits about 1% of the prostate.