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Raising awareness about our disease ( Image Tree and Cancer)
Prostate Cancer | Last Active: 6 hours ago | Replies (4)Comment receiving replies
Cancer is a systemic disease. I didn't understand it before. Now, I understand, and I hope so.
When I was diagnosed with this nasty thing at stage 4, I prepared myself for death. The doctors shrugged and said it is the end! I and deadman ! At the time, I didn't understand anything and just begged them to remove this nasty thing (to perform surgery), but they told me it was too late; the cancer had spread to my bones and lymph nodes, which was technically impossible to remove. This really upset me; I stared at the wall for almost a month, unable to believe it because I had no symptoms! I was prescribed ADT, had chemotherapy, and am now on Erleada. But the question that worries me is whether I'm being treated correctly.
But reading this forum, I see that Gleason 9 tumors are operated on.
The comparison to a tree is an oversimplification, intended simply to show the patient what it's like. The example I was given about uncontrolled growth isn't related to prostate cancer.
Replies to "@surftohealth88 Cancer is a systemic disease. I didn't understand it before. Now, I understand, and I..."
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@denis76
When cancer becomes systemic (it is not systemic when it just starts forming in the body - at that phase it is localized and the cure is possible) that means that it metastasized.
Tumor starts growing somewhere in the body and if not discovered on time by our own immune system and destroyed it continues growing and its cells multiplying. Over time more and more mutations happen (changes of genetic material) and cells become more and more abnormal and more and more "aggressive". At some point individual cells or tiny fragments of a tumor get detached and travel throughout the body via blood or lymph system or just stay in close proximity of the original tumor and make "new colonies" of cancer cells - which are now new small tumors. So, metastasis originate from original tumor (tree) and are not "roots" of a tree, they are offshoot from original tumor (tree).
Your doctor tried to simplify the explanation but he is obvious not good with "symbolism" and metaphoric comparisons.
Regarding treating original source at the point when cancer is already systemic is something that is often debated and some doctors do remove prostate (rarely) and some suggest RT of the gland (more common). In case that a patient is at advanced age and/or life expectancy is not high due to comorbidities patient might be offered just systemic therapy with ADT and some targeted RT to mets to ease the pain etc.. So yes- there is a huge diapason of choices for PC treatment and management and individual treatments are chosen according to multiple parameters present in any individual patient.
PS: Regarding uncontrolled growth of the cancer your doctor was right since in essence cancer IS uncontrolled growth of a tissue. Cancer cells have genetic changes that cause loss of genes that control rate of division, rate of growths, and longevity of cells. Cancer cells are in a sense "out of control" - they divide too fast, to often, never mature and have exceptionally long lifespan and behave in very different way than normal cells.