Received the news on Halloween. I have prostate cancer. Need advice.

My biopsy also showed Gleason 3+4 but my PSA was 14.5. Only 1 out of 18 cores were positive. Those with 3+4 are a very hterogeneous groups with a subset being very low risk similar to Gleason 6 and others with very high risk similar to Gleason 8 or higher. If I am in the very low risk group I was going to consider active surveillance, but if not: definitive treatment. So, how do I know which sub-group I belong to? Like you are planning to do, I took a genomic case (in my case a GPS test) which produced a score of 47: meaning very high risk. Therefore, active surveillance came off the table, and I decided to seek definitive treatment. I evaluated surgery vs radiation and settled on surgery after assessing many factors including the negative impact of radiating my post-TURP enlaarged prostate with its pre-existing urinary symptoms.

So, I think getting a genomic test is the most important next step for you. Good luck on the difficult but manageable journey of fighting cancer.

@rlowenstein
Your post almost equals my journey and decision I made with prostate cancer. My state of mind was important to me as it was to you.

Making the decision is a personal decision and what another does may not be the best interest for you not only physical heatlh but mental health.

I agree with everyone on this forum. You are going to be ok. I got diagnosed in June and the anxiety was out the roof for me. I had the Prostatectomy on 4 Nov. I feel relief the C is gone
And the procedure really wasn’t that bad at all
The worst part is the Catheter but it’s only for a week
Good luck and Gods speed

Suggest meeting also with a Radiation Oncologist. I was treated for Gleason 3+4 with 5 sessions of SBRT. My PSA is now undetectable.

You are going to be OK! Yes, for sure follow up with additional advice/opinion. But you got it pretty early and you are on top of it. You are going to OK.

Frank,
take a deep breath. You have time to decide for yourself the treatment plan you want to do. You are your best advocate. My initial scores were about the same as your, done at my local Dr. After reading Walsh's book I decided to go to Mayo in Rochester, MN and have them look at the slides and the scores were higher so waiting was off the table. I decided that radiation was the route for me so we set it up and the "team" at Mayo could not have been better nor my decision for radiation. I did 5 rounds, stayed at their facility for cancer treatments and as one guy said as he was leaving the facility"this was the best worst time of my life." 6 months post treatment my PSA was 2.2 and now 12 months post treatment it is .78. Dr Rajkumar is often in my thoughts for her compassion and attitude plus she is one smart Dr. Good luck to you.

@fbt217
I agree that the second opinion and treatment should be at a top-level hospital. But you may want to consider that all doctors are not the same. In my opinion, the selection of a doctor, at a top-level hospital, is just as important.
Good luck!

It appears that you like a lot of us have caught this early and you can make some decisions once the PSMA comes back. I hope your PSMA comes back as no spread. To be honest with you I cried like a baby when the Urologist told me there was no spread and mine was caught early. Other than what's been suggested, ask your Urologist lots of questions about the PSMA and the other tests that you are about to get. You aren't alone in this, and this forum is fantastic. Take it one day at a time, somedays it will be a struggle. Don't dwell on your diagnosis and if you can find ways to distract your brain from overthinking this. A great deal of on here are living proof that early detection is the key. We are all here for you! 🙂

First, don't panic but get your prostate treated either surgery, radiation, or both whichever you and your doctor agree. My nonprofessional advice is the sooner you get it treated the better. Watchful waiting will only give the cancer time to spread. You do not want that.

I'm sorry to hear the news, but it sounds like it was found in early stages, so be grateful for that. There are lots of folks in this group with lots of experience and opinions, which helps, but I also recommend a book that gives lot of great advice based on actual clinical trials and studies: Dr. Patrick Walsh's Guide to Surviving Prostate Cancer. Be sure to get the 5th edition, which came out this year, not the first, which was around 2001. I wish I had read the book before my surgery; I would still have had the surgery, but would have been much better informed about the decision, and about what was yet to come post surgery. Best of luck to you.