Stage 4 prostate cancer

Posted by oloye @oloye, 4 days ago

I m 66 years old . Had prostate cancer treated 15 years ago got treaded with proton therapy now tested with psa 4.6 PET scan showed that the cancer has spread to lymph nodes and pelvis areas and one core biopsy tested positive G. Scores 3+4 =7 in the prostate area. Now my Doctor is recommending ADT and proton therapy. Scared of ADT side effects just got married. Can proton alone cure the cancer or is there any ADT medications without no down side effects on erection and Lobido etc. Please I’m thinking too much no symptoms.

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northoftheborder | @northoftheborder | 4 days ago

Radiation therapy might cure cancer (especially if it's spread to only a few places, aka "oligometastatic"), but doctors can't promise anything because there's no medical way to detect if there are still dormant cancer cells or micrometastases lurking around. That's why they talk only about "remission" rather than "cure" when we're at stage 4. But with the help of radiation, ADT, an ARSI (like the -lutamides), and maybe other treatments later if there's any progression, your so-called "remission" could potentially last until you die of old age or something else unrelated to cancer, which would make it hard to distinguish from a "cure". 🙂

I'm over 3 1/2 years in functional remission, and hoping for decades to come. I'm also likely going to be on ADT and ARSI for life, or at least until there are new medical breakthroughs. The ADT side-effects have been manageable for me, but they have brought about life changes.