Proton Therapy

[Guest guest]

Wondering if anyone in the group is familiar with proton therapy. My husband was just diagnosed this week. Thanks so much for any input. We don't have all the info yet. Gleason is 6 (3+3). PSA is 6. Dr is confident cancer is confined to prostate. Thanks again. JanSent from my iPad

>

> > ...

> > Let's consider a hypothetical case: Patient's PSA is 3.0 ng/mL.

> > He starts ADT and after one year his PSA is 2.9.

> >

> > Hello? Hello? Is he HR (hormone refractory?) If not, W T H is

> > going on?

> > ...

>

> I think we may be talking at cross purposes Steve.

>

> I was assuming that the original patient we were discussing was

> not hormone refractory and not on ADT treatment for recurrent

> cancer. Rather he was receiving adjuvant hormone therapy for a

> primary radiation treatment. The intent of the ADT was not to

> suppress the cancer long term, but to weaken it in order to

> maximize the effect of the radiation. The hope is that the

> cancer will be completely destroyed by the radiation and further

> hormone therapy would never be necessary again.

>

> Perhaps you were thinking that the person had already failed

> primary treatment and was receiving ADT as a long term treatment.

>

> If my assumption was correct, the patient would definitely be

> taken off ADT after some period of time. The only question was

> how long should that period of time be. I've seen studies

> arguing for different periods ranging from 6 months to 2 years.

>

> It's possible that my assumption is wrong, but if it's right, I

> think the patient won't find out whether the radiation worked

> until he gets off ADT and sees what happens. What happened in

> this patient's case is that the PSA rose to 0.26 from its

> undetectable status on ADT. 0.26 is an excellent number for

> 15-18 months post radiation and does not indicate a recurrence of

> the cancer.

>

> Alan

>

Steve J. and Alan M,

I underwent a year of ADT prior to and 6 mos following Brachytheraphy.

My PSA has remained in the 0.2 to 0.3 range for the past 5+ years and was 0.3 a mo. ago, however a CT scan last week revealed possible trouble spots in the lung area. I'm going to a Medical Oncologist tomorrow (Wed. 10-27) for his opinion because the radiologist's report indicated possible mets from the PCa, or possibly is from 50 yrs. of smoking, drinking or just NJ air. I've been away from the alt. group for a while, but still recognize that are rational conversations there. I should have saved the old computer, it worked!

Tom