Curing PCa early?--Is it ever cured?

[Guest guest]

It is my understanding that you don’t know that you have ‘cured’ your prostate cancer until you die of some other cause! Glen R. Fotre PCD, age 73Dx 12/27/2010bPSA 5.84TRUSP volume 44cc3/8 cores + on R with GS (4,3) 12%1/5 cores + on L with GS (3,3) 1%Slides Reviewed by BostwickPathology Report AvailableCS T2cProton Treatments Began at LLUMC on 4/25/11 in HBL and finished 7/1/11.Thank GOD for Flomax!

[Guest guest]

Sheila,

Both my diognosing Dr. and the surgeon that did the removal said that the word "cure" does not exist in the world of cancer. As Glen said the only time you know your "cured" is when you die of something else. But then you don't know do you?

Sorry.

Rick

Subject: Curing PCa early?--Is it ever cured?To: ProstateCancerSupport Date: Wednesday, July 20, 2011, 9:38 AM

Hi All,

I have a question..I have read postings when men say the have cured their Prostate Cancer. I've been doing research since 2008 and with everything I've learned if left me with the thought that Prostate Cancer is never really cured..It can be like a sleeping giant if not watched and monitored. Is my understanding wrong??? My husband had 44 IMRT treatments and one year of hormones ( Zoladex) and now his PSA is slowly raising. I hope someone can straighten me out on this. I keep you all in my thoughts and prayers. Have a nice day.

Best Wishes,

Sheila

[Guest guest]

Hello Everyone,

Thank you for the replies. My husband's PSA was 0.02 three months later, 0.09, three months 0.24 then 0.41 and a month ago it was 0.52..I am right on top of things,,I get him to the oncologist every three months. The doctor want's to see what happens in September. He has a very aggressive form of prostate cancer...Gleason 9,,PSA before treatment was 7.9. ..So the new Oncologist is staying on top of it. We have just met our new Oncologist, since our regular doctor fell, hit his head and died. We weren't even notified,,,,we were just called and told we missed an appointment and we hadn't, they just reschuled us with the new doctor. I like him enough though. If my husband's PSA continues to climb,,I want to go back into Mass. General where we started. We tried to get Proton Beam, but we were told that they needed to radiate the lumph nodes as well. We just wonder. We found a local Cancer Center only 20 minutes away and we went with the IMRT, what the doctor from Boston recommended ....Well my friends, I will keep you posted. I hated it when he was on hormones before...We have just found each other again and I would just hate for US to go through that again. The hot flashes drove him crazy and you know the rest. When a husband is effected by prostate cancer it also effects his wife. It stinks,,but we will do what we have to do.

Thank you all again for the support too,,,you are all so kind and in 2008 when this all started you were all here for me then too.

Have a nice evening everyone.

Best Wishes,

Sheila

[Guest guest]

There are men out there that have caught their

PCa early enough that after their selected treatment they are showing zero

evidence of having PCa (no rising PSA or negative DRE). This evidence

continues on years after their treatment. After about 5 years these men

consider themselves cured. Others have been treated and after several years of

no evidence start to see a rise in their PSA again, for them they enter the

world of never being cured but can successfully manage their cancer. On

these groups you will see more men of the later type simply because the first

group of men have continued on and forget, possibly for only a while, the

ordeal they went through. Most of us that are still here have been

through it once and continue to have to deal with it more.

I am sorry to hear that it sounds like

your husband has joined the later group. Fortunately there are ways to

manage the cancer and minimized the complications he may experience. It may

extend his life where he may eventually die from something else but will not be

“cured” (IHMO). The chance for the cure passed with the

initial treatment.

From: ProstateCancerSupport [mailto:ProstateCancerSupport ] On Behalf Of shedorman@...

Sent: Wednesday, July 20, 2011

9:39 AM

To: ProstateCancerSupport

Subject:

Curing PCa early?--Is it ever cured?

Hi All,

I have a question..I have read postings when men

say the have cured their Prostate Cancer. I've been doing research since 2008

and with everything I've learned if left me with the thought that Prostate

Cancer is never really cured..It can be like a sleeping giant if not watched

and monitored. Is my understanding wrong??? My husband had 44 IMRT treatments

and one year of hormones ( Zoladex) and now his PSA is slowly raising. I hope

someone can straighten me out on this. I keep you all in my thoughts and prayers.

Have a nice day.

Best Wishes,

Sheila

[Guest guest]

So far, I appear to be in the first group. Surgery done Sept. 13, 2006. PSA was essentially unmeasurable some two months since surgery and remained so at this time. DRE was negative presurgery and, of course, has remained so.

What has me horrified is that if I were forced to wait another two years for Medicare eligibility, this would have not been the case!

Louis. . .

To: ProstateCancerSupport Sent: Wed, July 20, 2011 4:47:12 PMSubject: RE: Curing PCa early?--Is it ever cured?

There are men out there that have caught their PCa early enough that after their selected treatment they are showing zero evidence of having PCa (no rising PSA or negative DRE). This evidence continues on years after their treatment. After about 5 years these men consider themselves cured. Others have been treated and after several years of no evidence start to see a rise in their PSA again, for them they enter the world of never being cured but can successfully manage their cancer. On these groups you will see more men of the later type simply because the first group of men have continued on and forget, possibly for only a while, the ordeal they went through. Most of us that are still here have been through it once and continue to have to deal with it more.

I am sorry to hear that it sounds like your husband has joined the later group. Fortunately there are ways to manage the cancer and minimized the complications he may experience. It may extend his life where he may eventually die from something else but will not be “cured†(IHMO). The chance for the cure passed with the initial treatment.

From: ProstateCancerSupport [mailto: ProstateCancerSupport ] On Behalf Of shedorman@...Sent: Wednesday, July 20, 2011 9:39 AMTo: ProstateCancerSupport Subject: Curing PCa early?--Is it ever cured?

Hi All,

I have a question..I have read postings when men say the have cured their Prostate Cancer. I've been doing research since 2008 and with everything I've learned if left me with the thought that Prostate Cancer is never really cured..It can be like a sleeping giant if not watched and monitored. Is my understanding wrong??? My husband had 44 IMRT treatments and one year of hormones ( Zoladex) and now his PSA is slowly raising. I hope someone can straighten me out on this. I keep you all in my thoughts and prayers. Have a nice day.

Best Wishes,

Sheila

[Guest guest]

I don't like using the word " cure " , because the probability of recurrence (for

an individual) doesn't ever become 0.

But both surgeons and brachytherapy guys have done 10-year followup studies.

With Gleason 6 cancer, caught early (PSA < 10 or so), the probability of

" biochemical recurrence " (that is, a rising PSA indicating that the cancer is

starting to grow) is quite low after 5 years, and (if I remember the curves

right) lower than 25% after 10 years.

With my numbers, I figure that I have over 90% probability of dying of something

else, before my PCa reappears. That`s good enough for me.

PS -- there may be nomograms on the MSKCC website that give the `5-year

probability of recurrence', if you feed in the original numbers and

post-surgical pathology status.

>

>

>

>

> Hi All,

>

> I have a question..I have read postings when men say the have cured their

Prostate Cancer. I've been doing research since 2008 and with everything I've

learned if left me with the thought that Prostate Cancer is never really

cured..It can be like a sleeping giant if not watched and monitored. Is my

understanding wrong??? My husband had 44 IMRT treatments and one year of

hormones ( Zoladex) and now his PSA is slowly raising. I hope someone can

straighten me out on this. I keep you all in my thoughts and prayers.  Have a

nice day.

>

>

>

> Best Wishes,

>

> Sheila

>