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Diagnosis with prostate cancer, where to go now in this moment !
Hello , All new to this I was diagnosed prostate cancer a few months ago after having a PSA test at 20.1 3 yrs before that PSA 4.5 in 2023. what a shock was that never in my family's history was no prostate cancer. I went through an MRI which didn't show much then came outpatient surgery for biopsy that came back 6 spots on my prostate. Gleason score 3+4=7 . Had to get after that an PET test to see if the cancer spread outside my prostate but no it didn't. My Urologist had two options for me Radiation or Surgery and at this time I find myself in a bind. Any advice ?
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Getting that first diagnosis is tough, as is all the decisions you'll be faced with. All I can do is tell you how I approached it when I was first diagnosed back in 2020, when I was 71. My gleason score was 9 (5+4).
This basic decision, as you've found, is to decide between surgery and ADT plus radiation. What I did was schedule a conference with the radiation oncologist, and the surgical oncologist. Both are very respected in their fields. I specifically asked them to give a complete, as neutral as they can, overview of their specialty and to tell me the pros and cons. Each sessions was about an hour and a half. They each, of course, were biased to their own approach, but both did admit that each approach was equally effective. My oncologist confirmed this.
I chose radiation and ABT for two reasons. One, there is less chance for urinary leakage. Two, with surgery there is a fair chance that you will eventually also have to have radiation and perhaps ADT.
For me, I think the decision was a good one. I've had zero urinary leakage and my cancer went into remission for five years. Unfortunately, it came out of remission last year and spread to my lungs, but I believe this would have eventually happened with a gleason score of 9, no matter which approach I chose.
So, my advice to you is to get a thorough review of the pros and cons of each approach as they apply to your specific situation and then make your decision.
Whatever you decide, best of luck and keep us informed.
Tom