Thoughts on treatment options

@jeffmarc I don't quite know why it took nearly 24-hours for it to register with me (?), but I just now made the connection that Cyberknife and SBRT were the same animal. That sure simplifies things a bit for me, so thanks again.

@toomany
MET or METS refer to metastasis.

@jeffmarc Thank you, and yes, I kinda figured that that's what it meant, but the reason I was (and am) confused, is because I'm under the understanding that while I (personally) have recurrence in both the prostate gland itself and the right seminal vesicle, I'm repeatedly told that I have no current "metastases" (typically stated or cited by the doctors as "not having metastasized" to the bones or outside of the pelvis'). Could I be misinterpreting the semantics or the term "metastasis" itself on that score?

@toomany Oh--sorry for the undefined abbreviation. "Met" is short for metastasis, "mets" is short for the plural metastases.

One other thing I failed to mention before. When a met appeared in a spot that had already had SBRT and my husband couldn't have any more radiation in that location, an interventional radiologist did an ablation instead to destroy the cancer spot. So there's another alternative to SBRT to discuss with your RO if relevant to your case. Above all, good luck!

@lag Thank you, lag. As you can probably see from my above posting, I remain a bit unclear about the common use and strict definition of the term "metastasis"?

I understand that it's intended to mean "metastatic", but it is my understanding that neither my original (2018), nor my recurrent (2026) diagnoses (including PSMA-PET scan), identified any "metastases" in my case. So, if not beforehand, I'm hoping to definitively clarify that with my RO tomorrow, but once again, thank you very much for your feedback, and likewise to you on the kind wishes for both you and yours.

@toomany Here is a very brief overview of the terms from the Mayo Clinic web site:
Metastasis is the medical term for disease that spreads to an area away from where it started. When cancer spreads, healthcare professionals say it metastasizes or is metastatic. When cancer cells spread to one spot in a bone, it's called bone metastasis. When there is more than one area of metastasis in the bones, it's called bone metastases.

Your RO will be able to clarify this for you tomorrow, I am sure. Best wishes for a helpful appointment.

@lag Well, once again, I thank you for your input here, and if true, and mind you, I have no reason whatsoever to doubt you (or the Mayo website), then I have been both misinformed and grossly misled, because there is every indication that my present "non-metastatic" cancer of the prostate, left the station so to speak (for the right seminal vesicle), eight long years ago.

Either way of course, none of it really changes my reality any, because (not to be flippant about it here, but), "it is what it is". What's perhaps even more puzzling than the "fake news", is the fact that I have official medical records, including summary imaging reports (e.g., bone scan, PSMA-PET, etc.), that specifically cite the term "non-metastatic" disease, right in the text?&%#?

Now THAT, I submit, is truly, baffling!

Needless to say, tomorrow's visit with my original (2018) RO, will undoubtedly help to educate me properly on this and many other fronts. ; -)

P.S. - Just to help add insult to injury here, one-week ago tomorrow, my 'local' RO stated, while reviewing the PSMA-PET images together (and I'm quoting him verbatim) . . . "you wouldn't be eligible for Pluvicto, because your not metastatic."

Google Question: "If prostate cancer spreads to a seminal vesicle, is that metastatic"?

Google Answer: "No, when prostate cancer spreads directly into a seminal vesicle, doctors classify it as locally advanced prostate cancer rather than metastatic disease."

Whew! I was beginning to think I was losing my mind.

@toomany Oh, thank goodness. Thank you for getting that clarification. I guess the key is that the seminal vesicles sit just above and close to the prostate, so the spread of the cancer to them is local spread because they are so close. We have both learned something and your mind is put at ease--hooray.

@lag Good evening, lag, and no worries. The terminology and the whole subject itself is a hot, blurry mess in my view, and the fact is, I'm a pathological worrier by nature, so none of it does anything to put my "mind at ease". For me, sleep alone does that, but I'm seriously hoping that this whole interim journey of uncertainty and revisiting it all again after 8-years, will also slumber, and maybe silence itself for another period of years for me. That, would be a true blessing.

Thanks again, and best wishes to you.