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Biden will be here soon: Former President metastatic prostate cancer

Posted by peterj116 @peterj116, May 18 3:38pm

"On Friday, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, characterized by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone."
"While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management. The President and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians," the statement continued.

As a non-American watching the last 4 years from afar, I make no comment.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Prostate Cancer Support Group.

brianjarvis | @brianjarvis | 2 days ago
In reply to @lag "Here is an excellent piece from the Washington Post written by a genitourinary oncologist which sets..." + (show)
@lag

Here is an excellent piece from the Washington Post written by a genitourinary oncologist which sets the record straight and is very encouraging for Stage 4 prostate cancer patients and their loved ones. https://wapo.st/3HdTaFn

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Yes, Stage 4 prostate cancer patients should be encouraged by the state of modern medicine as it relates to prostate cancer.

But, this genitourinary oncologist does nothing to set the record straight. Yes, he states the facts in everything he says; yet at the same time there are misrepresentations in much of what he says. I’ll mention just a couple (of many):

> “…But national guidelines recommended against PSA screening for anyone over age 70,…” There is no urologist I’ve come across who strictly follows that guideline. (And the president’s urologist should not have either). Everyone knows that’s a “guideline,” it’s not “gospel.” And that flawed “guideline” was only created following the very very flawed 2012 “guideline”: https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/recommendation/prostate-cancer-screening-2012)

> “….due to elevated risk of false positives…” There are rarely false positives with PSA tests. Remember that a PSA test is not a prostate cancer test. A positive PSA test (for elevated levels of PSA) is like a glowing “check engine” light in a car, indicating that something may be wrong somewhere. It’s understood that if there is a positive PSA, it’s then necessary to take steps (like diagnosing a “check engine” light) to rule out other factors that might cause an elevated PSA: like a DRE prior to a PSA test, a UTI, prostatitis, rigorous bicycle-riding, or many more reasons. None of this is indicative of a false positive - unless one does not understand that a PSA test is not a cancer test. (Also remember that PSA is not even “prostate specific.” Even breast tissue and mothers’ milk express PSA…..but, that’s another discussion for another day……

There are many more misrepresentations that causes this not to set the record straight, but that’s enough for a start.

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heavyphil | @heavyphil | 1 day ago
In reply to @brianjarvis "There’s a well-known answer to your first question—> “ Why else would routine preventative testing be..." + (show)
@brianjarvis

There’s a well-known answer to your first question—> “ Why else would routine preventative testing be frowned upon?”

In the early 2000s, many men were getting routine PSA tests. Unfortunately, so many men lost their minds and panicked when they heard that “you have prostate cancer” (that was low-grade and localized disease) and jumped quickly to getting a prostatectomy when it wasn’t medically necessary. What the medical community found was that often the cure (with its known side/after effects) can be worse than the disease itself.

As a result, the USPSTF (made a decision to keep men from harming themselves and actually) recommended against any routine prostate cancer screening (assigning the screening a “D” recommendation: https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/recommendation/prostate-cancer-screening-2012).

As a result of much political fallout from that “D” recommendation, a few years later (in 2018) they revised that 2012 recommendation to what currently is in place —> the current USPSTF guidelines recommend against PSA screening after age 70 (https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/recommendation/prostate-cancer-screening).

That’s the answer to your first question and how we got here from there.

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Oh man, do I know it! I remember the controversy very well and it’s one of the reasons why my cancer progressed to the Gleason Stage it did...
But the rebound effect was more men being diagnosed with advanced stage cancer. So then they had to backtrack and say OK, we’ll test but not over a certain age because you’re gonna be dead anyway…WTF??
It’s two extreme positions with ‘rational’ in the middle somewhere. No one forces men to self harm; doctors should be the arbiters of the test results. Today we have AS, which is a fantastic collaboration between doctor and patient… At last!
We all know that the current guidelines are certain to be changed - probably to age 75 or so. The many men on this board who’ve elected treatment past age 70 is just a small sampling of how much men disagree with this panel’s view of our useless, last few years of life on this earth past age 70…what f****ing nerve…Best,
Phil

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kathy49 | @kathy49 | 1 day ago
In reply to @tomf "At home, the elder of a family can decline to find out about his prostate problems..." + (show)
@tomf

At home, the elder of a family can decline to find out about his prostate problems and the only affected people are his spouse and children. But when you are the commander in chief, the President of the United States, you are obligated to be as fit as possible. If you aren't being screened for diseases, you aren't being a good steward of the position you swore to do to the best of your ability. You are putting self over duty. Everyone involved in this should come forward and explain their rationale.

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It is an epic failure that he was not screened using both PSA and digital and yes I think both a doctor treating him and the president are at fault here. Ultimately Biden is paying the price. He is an advocate for cancer cures which involves using all screening and he failed himself. I just don't really get it.

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