Any hopeful stage 4 storries

5 Years & still going at 76
Reached stage IV over 2-year covid shutdown
Metastasized to bones, not endocrine/lymphatic system, lucky me!
Eligard & Erleada
PSA <0.01%

Started out with stage 4 diagnosis after biopsy and other tests. It will be 8 years in October 2026.

Well, I have a prostate surgery on 09/19/2015 and 14 months later the cancer had a recurrence. I had 40 radiation sessions and placed on hormone therapy. On June 2019 my cancer was diagnosed as incurable stage 4. My survivability was 4 to 5 years. In August2023, more than 4 years later and the PSA was 0.30, I asked the doctor to suspend the medication and not to do anything until the PSA rises to 1.00. He accepted. Now, more than 7 years later, my PSA rose to 0.68.
The oncologist scheduled a PET scan for mid August.

Can some of you that have been stating you are stage 4 for more than 5 years specify whether you are castrate sensitive or resistant.

@wooldridgec Castrate-sensitive since 2021: starting a lutamide at the same time as ADT ("doublet therapy") can significantly delay the onset of castrate-resistance.

(You can safely assume that almost everyone posting a PSA < 1.0 is castrate-sensitive.)

I am now 61 and was diognised with T3b Gleason 9 in September 2022. Prostate removed in November 2022. Became stage 4 in August 2023 with metastasis in bones, lymps and lungs. Started chemo + hormone theraphy. Have been on hormon thersphy ever since. Did radiation of one area in left hip after chemo in May 2024. Did sbrt (cyber knife) of 5 leasions in lungs in October 2025. Biggest leasion 25 mm. Started Pluvicto in June 2026 after pet scan showing multiple small leasions in lungs and in lymph nodes in pelvic area. Very few side effects. Regular execises, 3 - 5 times a week, mostly walking. Working 100% and I hope for several good years ahead.

I was diagnosed after my annual check-up in February, 2025. As I recall, my primary physician said “If you want to have a PSA test, Medicare will cover it, but that’s up to you.” I was 67 years old at the time and, because no medical professional stressed the importance of having an annual PSA, I never had one. Turns out, my PSA was 67 (my age at the time) and my Gleason score was 4 + 5=9 but I was asymptomatic.
PET scan showed metastasis to the lymph nodes and bowel but no bone Mets.
A urology nurse advised my wife to start shopping for funeral homes - she even had a list of ones she recommended - and she said I should apply for a spot in hospice care. I was a little rattled by this, of course.
Up to that point, I had been an athlete and I figured that, if I survive this, my days of competing were over but that would be a small concession if treatment could prolong my life.
I went through some dark times when it took an extraordinary effort to workout but a physician friend assured me that things would get better and I should continue to train even when I didn’t feel like it.
Fifteen months later, while still taking oral anti-androgens and receiving Lupron infusions every three months, I was back on the cycling circuit and doing well so life continues unabated post diagnosis.

@madisonman0326 So many of us got the "start preparing to die" speech (or more empathetic versions thereof) with our de-novo stage 4 diagnosis. There are no guarantees, and it's important to remember that some people aren't still don't respond well to new treatment strategies, but the data they're using for life expectancy is OLD.

These days, you're not deluding yourself if you don't just give up after a stage-4 prostate cancer diagnosis. It is entirely reasonable to hope, and to keep imagining yourself living to old age. 10+ years ago, that might have been self-delusional, but not any more.

Keep on cycling!

@jsemmerhoff Maybe even more than several good years ahead of you. 🙏

You got hit harder than most of us who are living with stage 4, but it sounds like you pulled yourself up off the mat and kept fighting. If I were a gambler, I wouldn't bet against you at this point.

The are two 4's: 4A and 4B. A is local spread. B is distant spread. Hugely different statistics.