After IMRT is BPH likely to ever develop?

[Guest guest]

Just a question.

I recently completed IMRT (TomoTherapy) for PCa.

I have never had any problems holding or emptying my bladder (before or after

IMRT).

I understand the prostate normally enlarges as we age, but I was wondering if

this still occurs after radiation and might BPH likely still develop?

[Guest guest]

blk-shr wrote:

> Just a question.

> I recently completed IMRT (TomoTherapy) for PCa.

> I have never had any problems holding or emptying my bladder

> (before or after IMRT).

> I understand the prostate normally enlarges as we age, but I

> was wondering if this still occurs after radiation and might

> BPH likely still develop?

I don't have any real knowledge about this, but I speculate that

the answer is No, the prostate will not enlarge after radiation.

The reason for this is that a lot of the prostate cells die off

after radiation, so they would neither replicate nor grow.

If you ever see your radiation oncologist again, please ask him

this question and post the answer here.

Now having said that, I don't think it means that the increasing

urinary urgency that men experience as they age will necessarily

not occur. It is my understanding that BPH is only one possible

cause of that. Another might be a gradual loss of elasticity in

the bladder that keeps it from filling as much as it did when we

were young.

Alan