Living with Prostate Cancer: Meet others & introduce yourself

HI,
Let me share my experience, which may have no bearing on your decision process. At 47 I had a PSA of 7, which suggested surveillance. By the next year it rose to 9 (rule of thumb is PSA should not be higher than the 1st digit of your age). And I was only 48 so an unreasonable reading would have been 4 to 6. Thus began biopsies every 6 months which were negative. By the time I was 50 the biopsies were every 3 months and my PSA was now 14. The last biopsy was positive in one sample, so I went ahead with the RPA surgery. The work-up included full body scan before the surgery. The cancer was contained within the gland and no lymph nodes were positive.
I am now 75 and PSA still below below .1. Looking back, by the time I was scheduled for the last biopsy I was feeling like a hunted animal, and told my wife that I wasn’t going to have any more biopsies. I insisted that the doctor was a hunter and I was the game.
Some things to consider: 1) Any history of urinary infection? This can affect PSA readings. 2) Do you hard exercise on a bike which can also aggravate the prostate gland? 3) Do you have a genetic history where a parent or grandparent had known prostate cancer? In my case all my relatives Dad and uncle were diagnosed with elevated PSA, but died from other causes.
Deciding which coarse of treatment is difficult due to provider bias. If the urologist is a surgeon, then surgery is the recommendation and if they are not then radiation may be the recommendation. Remember my data points were in 1995 and I suspect there have been improvements in treatment. Again, at the time of my treatment the post surgical problems of impotence and incontinence were the same after 2 years as far as the number reported. When it comes to treating cancer with an unknown rate of spread I believe that treatment should not be avoided. I can appreciate the roller coaster ride you are on as you face this very difficult decision. Best wishes, Keith

Here is the conclusion of a clinical trial that was published 1.5 years ago. Things might have changed since them. This was reported by the NIH (National Institute of Health).

Conclusion: Focal laser ablation is a promising technique for treatment of clinically localized PCa and should ideally be performed within approved clinical trials. So far, only few studies have reported on FLA and further validation with longer follow-up is mandatory before widespread clinical implementation is justified.

It seems that at least in 10/2019, FLA was just in clinical trials. Here is a link to the study, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30671638/

When I was doing my treatment research my final decision was between HIFU and FLA focal laser ablation. They are both ablation methods that work well.you may want to research FLA if you have not. Talk with the Sperling clinic. Dr Sperling in Florida. I wish you well.

@mbartosch, you are certainly not alone in having to decide on treatment options for prostate cancer. There are several discussions in the group that weigh the pros and cons of choice, for example:
- Prostate cancer: What treatments did you choose? Results? https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/prostate-cancer-4/
- prostate cancer treatment choices https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/prostate-cancer-treatment-choices/

Living with UC, you may also be interested in this discussion:
- Radiation for Prostate Cancer with Ulcerative Colitis https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/radiation-for-prostate-cancer-with-ulcerative-colitis/

@tconama, all the best with the MRI today. I look forward to hearing what you learn and what treatment options you'll be considering.

Welcome @griff0351. I see you were diagnosed in 2018. How are you doing today?

Well its decision day for me and I would love any feedback I can get on HIFU. I am waiting on feedback from Dr. Woodrum at Mayo MN. and another doctor in TX. I have read almost everything in the last 2 weeks and but still looking for more data to help me make the best decision on which treatment would be best. I have multilateral prostate cancer, a gleason score of 7, and my PSA is 4.5, I had surgery scheduled for March 26th, but have delayed it to learn more about this alternative treatment.

Norske stay positive, I not a doctor but the stress in dealing with this stuff can definitely wear you out. Good Luck

Hi Tim, you might check Mayo's website on transpereneal approach. Some of their doctors have discontinued using the transrectal approach. Your doctor may not be able to do it. If I had a choice, it's the approach I would take.

Well good luck with everything. Since they are doing an MRI guided biopsy I believe you are in very good hands.