Connect
← Return to Prostatectomy or Radiation? Lot of stress over which to choose
Discussion
Prostatectomy or Radiation? Lot of stress over which to choose
Prostate Cancer | Last Active: 3 days ago | Replies (116)Comment receiving replies
I understand your dilemma and feel your anxiety, as I faced the same one three years ago.
It was very difficult for me to weigh the options as I received conflicting guidance depending on which doctor I consulted (urologist suggested active surveillance, surgeon surgery, and radiation oncologist - yep, you guessed it, radiation). Ultimately, I picked surgery, but if I had it to do over again I'd probably take another path.
An extensive study published in 2023 in NEJM opened my eyes to the fact that it doesn't really matter which treatment option one picks for men with relatively low-grade prostate cancer. Unfortunately, as a new member of this forum, I'm unable to post the link to the article, but if you google "Fifteen-Year Outcomes after Monitoring, Surgery, or Radiotherapy for Prostate Cancer", you'll find the article.
I wish you the very best of luck in making the decision that's right for you.
Replies to "I understand your dilemma and feel your anxiety, as I faced the same one three years..."
Connect
@abinoone
Actually, the fact that the results are the same whether they’re having radiation or surgery are mentioned a lot in the 10 pages previous to your comment. Too bad you couldn’t put in the link yet, but many of us are aware of it and tell people about it.
I’m not sure you noticed that the original question was December 2 and there were 10 pages of replies. Pretty sure he’s decided by now.
I picked surgery in 2010 and 3 1/2 years later it came back so I had radiation and it’s come back three more times since then but I’m still alive and I’ve been undetectable for the last 25 months. Surgery gave me 3 1/2 more years than I would’ve gotten with radiation since I have BRCA2, which causes my cancer to keep coming back. Didn’t find out about that till five years ago. For younger people surgery can make a lot of sense because you can have radiation after and the recurrence rate is pretty high.