question

[Guest guest]

Hi,

Our question is: what is the normal wait time after having the biopsy done until

having the prostate surgery?

We have gotten two opinions for treatment (an original and a second) of my dads

prostate cancer. Both drs agree that he is not a candidate for the robotic type

surgery. However, one dr says he would do the operation fairly right away

(around Oct 20th) and the other dr says he would wait until beginning of Dec.

His logic was that area needs time to recover from the biopsy. His biopsy was

two weeks ago. They both agree that his cancer is aggressive.

He is staged at T3 with a gleason score of 9.

Thanks, Grace

[Guest guest]

> Our question is: what is the normal wait time after having the

> biopsy done until having the prostate surgery?

I don't know of any standard " normal " time. It seems to be a

matter of the medic's professional judgment.

(snip)

> He is staged at T3 with a gleason score of 9.

Clinical stage T3 means that the tumor has penetrated the

prostate capsule. Until proven otherwise, I would suspect that

the cancer is at least systemic. The short-term effect of that is

that the surgery, while it should " debulk " the cancer, is not

likely to be curative.

I recommend consulting a true cancer specialist, a medical

oncologist, preferably one who is familiar with treatment of PCa.

I think it quite possible that the next step will be ADT

(androgen deprivation therapy), and a medical oncologist would be

better prepared to manage it than would the usual urologist.

It should also be helpful to explore the authoritative website of

the Prostate Cancer Research Institute at

http://prostate-cancer.org/index.html

There, one will find information on staging, treatments, just

about anything one needs to know.

Regards,

Steve J

" Know your enemy. Get educated. But also know that it won't be

easy. It will be confusing, overwhelming and depressing. That

is the nature of cancer and thus the very educational process

as you regain control. "

-- Young, PCa Mentor

Phoenix 5

[Guest guest]

Grace,Most surgeons prefer to wait around two months after a biopsy before performing surgery.  This time allows the inflammation from the biopsy to settle down.  You can use this time to have a second pathology lab look the slides and give a second opinion on the pathology report.

Stage T3 indicates that when the doctor did a DRE they were able to feel palpable disease

sufficient to indicate that the tumor has penetrated

through the prostate capsule.  There is a debate going on about the best way to treat prostate cancer staged T3.  Traditionally, surgery was not considered useful for T3 disease, but instead most doctors recommend radiation along with hormone therapy (ADT).  Increasingly there are docs that have done surgery with T3 disease and then done radiation and hormone therapy.

With T3 disease your dad should be seeing an oncologist who works with prostate cancer.  I recommend before you do any treatment or make any decisions you need to consult with one.  His disease is advanced and aggressive, so you do not want to delay setting up an appointment with an oncologist.  It can sometimes take a few weeks to get an appointment (which is OK it should not effect his prognosis), but you should move a head on setting up an appointment. 

There are some resources on-line for men with advanced prostate cancer (T3 qualifies).  There is a yahoo medical group sponsored by Malecare for advanced prostate cancer.  You can sign up at: http://health.dir.groups.yahoo.com/group/advancedprostatecancer  (paste this address in your browser).  Then click on the box that says Join This Group.

I also write a blog about advanced prostate cancer at: www.advancedprostatecancer.netThe bottom line is that your dad needs to see an oncologist before making any treatment decisions.

 

 

Hi,

Our question is: what is the normal wait time after having the biopsy done until having the prostate surgery?

We have gotten two opinions for treatment (an original and a second) of my dads prostate cancer. Both drs agree that he is not a candidate for the robotic type surgery. However, one dr says he would do the operation fairly right away (around Oct 20th) and the other dr says he would wait until beginning of Dec. His logic was that area needs time to recover from the biopsy. His biopsy was two weeks ago. They both agree that his cancer is aggressive.

He is staged at T3 with a gleason score of 9.

Thanks, Grace

-- T Nowak MA, MSWDirector for Advocacy and  Advanced Prostate Cancer Programs, Malecare Inc. Fighting Cancer TogetherSurvivor - Thyroid, Recurrent Prostate and Renal Cancers

www.advancedprostatecancer.net - A blog about advanced and recurrent prostate cancerwww.malecare.com - information and support about prostate cancer

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/advancedprostatecancer/ - an online support group for men and their families diagnosed with advanced and recurrent prostate cancer