Connect
← Return to What is treatment for Gleason Score 8 at 80 years old in good health?
Discussion
What is treatment for Gleason Score 8 at 80 years old in good health?
Prostate Cancer | Last Active: Mar 5 10:46am | Replies (87)Comment receiving replies
I was diagnosed with Prostate cancer a few days before my 90th birthday. Like yours, mine is a Gleason 4+4 = 8. I also have cribriform glands in one of the cancerous cores.
I received radiation therapy when I was 91, 28 sessions of Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT). The PSA fell rapidly after the radiation started. Now, at 8 months after the radiation therapy, the PSA is 95% below what it was before the radiation started.
I have some minor side effects, there is more frequent urination, minor urine leakage, and a mild case of proctitis. No fatigue. You can expect any cancer treatment to have side effects. The alternative is a shorter life. I believe the side effects of radiation are less than those of a prostatectomy.
Replies to "I was diagnosed with Prostate cancer a few days before my 90th birthday. Like yours, mine..."
@overage What I plan to do is go to a end of life act state before I’d allow prostate cancer to take me.
Connect
@overage I should add the Gleason 8 is high risk cancer and the Standard of Care for that with radiation is 12 to 36 months of ADT, or Chemical Castration for short. The addition of the ADT has been proven in trials to improve the long term outcome of the radiation. The side effects of the ADT are a decrease in bone density and high cholesterol and glucose levels as well as a loss of sexual function, hot flashes and perhaps mood changes and some brain fog..
I have the hot flashes and the sexual effects, although at 90-plus that part is minor. The side effects that concern me are bone-related, cholesterol, and glucose.
I was given an oral medication for bone density and then switched to an injection every 6 months (Prolia) which is more effective in raising bone density. The Cholesterol problem was solved with a statin plus ezetimibe which reduced my cholesterol from 240 to less that 140 within 60 days. The glucose is being partially controlled with metformin a relatively cheap medication commonly used for diabetes .