Is there ever a cure for stage 4?

Dormant or remission are the only two words that apply in todays timeframe.

I have seen Mark Scholz in one of the PCRI videos talk about cure for oligometastatic prostate cancer.

"Has anyone ever been "cured" from a stage 4, gleason 9, castration sensitive, metastatic prostate cancer?"

Boy, am I interested in the answers to THIS question!

However, the countless hours of research I've put in indicate the answer is...no. It may go into remission for extended periods but cure, no.

I have never heard the word cured from the medical community. I am happy with lifetime remission. Unless its some breakthrough that "cures" cancer of all types, I doubt we have the funding for prostate cancer to ever "cure" it. Just treatment.

Some people were this level of cancer have had their cancer go dormant, and stay that way for decades. Others have been treated and stay in remission with ADT and ARSI drugs.

When I attend weekly prostate cancer online meetings at ancan.org We run into people all the time who have gone years or decades in remission with serious cases.

And there are other people who don’t last more than a year or two with a similar diagnosis.

It's an active debate right now for oligometastatic prostate cancer. By "cure", we don't mean that the cancer disappears completely (because there's no way to measure and verify that), but that it enters a deep, long-term remission that lasts long enough for you to die naturally of something else, and doesn't require systemic treatment (like ADT and ARSI) to keep it dormant.

What they *are* doing right now is starting to treat oligometastatic cancer with "curative intent" — they can't prove yet that it can be "cured", but why not act like it can be and see what happens over the next 5, 10, 20 years? So they're hitting us with doublet (or more rarely, triplet) therapy including the newer -lutamides, metastasis-directed radiation, curative doses of radiation to the prostate, etc. etc. So far, the numbers are promising: the old "3–5 years" median expected survival after a metastatic prostate-cancer diagnosis is going out the window for many oligometastatic patients, as long as we're lucky enough to be treated somewhere that's up to date on the latest best practices.

I am under the care of Dr. Eugene Kwon at Mayo Clinic. He has a number of YouTube videos about treating advanced prostate cancer. I tried to provide the URL, but this site does allow that for new members (Me!). Google: Dr. Eugene Kwon, Advanced Prostate Cancer Combat Manual

I had Gleason 9, with two lymph nodes involved.

You might consider your current situation as a “cure”. The fact that your illness is very serious yet you are “cruising” along seems nothing short of a miracle. The future is where all of our fears and anxieties reside. The past holds our regrets and sorrows. So, from my perspective you might live in gratitude for a tolerable present. All the best to you…

Perhaps there are timeframes that include the words “ Hope” and “ gratitude”. It might involve a choice of words we use to describe our situation. “Dormant” and “remission” seem to harbor a fear of returning. All the best on your journey…

@mgaines, I noticed that you wished to post a URL to a video playlist with your post. You will be able to add URLs to your posts in a few days. There is a brief period where new members can't post links. We do this to deter spammers and keep the community safe.

Allow me to post the play list for you and for other members to see https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHj3V3RB2V-gMK9TMMGa-OwKp9K4D7TEB