Re: Re: prostate cancer spreading to sphincter muscle

[Guest guest]

> Hi ,

> My 2010 surgery follow up pathology report, upgraded my

> pre-surgery low volume Gleason 7 to a Gleason 9 with a lot of

> cancer found in the apex area. I remember my surgeon saying

> that the report also said that stray cancer cells had been

> found in muscle tissue (and that there is no muscle tissue

> within the prostate). He went on to suggest that in 3 months I

> go meet with an oncologist and a radiologist. Encouragingly, he

> also bet me that my post surgery PSA result would be non-detect

> and thankfully, he was right about that but I took his

> suggestion to see the oncologist and radiation docs anyway.

> They told me about a trial that was for people like me who had

> a greater than 50% chance of re-occurrence within 3 years. It

> consisted of hormones followed by radiation and then chemo. The

> hormones and radiation combination are considered standard

> treatment, it was the addition of chemo that was being trialed.

>

> I chose to participate, and now almost 2 years post surgery, my

> PSA is still <0.1 (Thank you God!!) and I'm fully aware that

> there's a long way to go before I'm in the clear.

>

> If you'd like further information regarding this treatment, I'd

> be happy to provide it. Best of luck with whatever path you

> choose.

>

> NFW

NFW,

That was an interesting trial. If I may, I'd like to ask you

some questions about it.

1. Are you still on hormone therapy? If not, how long ago did

you finish it?

2. Was the chemotherapy docetaxel, or something else?

3. How did you find the chemotherapy? Was it easy? Tough? Do

you have any lasting side effects from it?

4. Can you identify the trial for us, e.g. by its

" ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier " (NCT number), or perhaps by

the name of the principal investigator?

Thanks.

Alan

[Guest guest]

Hi Alan,I make it a point to read all of your posts. Thank you for your dedication.To answer your questions,I was on the hormones bicalutamide & Lupron for 6 months. I started them 2 months prior to starting IMRT (37 treatments) and finished about the time the chemo treatments began.The chemo was docetaxel. I had 6 treatments spaced 3 weeks apart. I also took dexamethasone prior to each treatment to ward off side effects. Thursday was treatment day, it took around an hour and was uneventful. I did get pretty at good playing Angry Birds. By Friday I'd be all amped up as a result of the dexamethasone, then over the weekend I'd crash a

little bit. All in all it wasn't bad. I would rate it fairly easy. Loss of some hair, skin peeling from my fingers, and some fatigue. I worked throughout all the treatments.The trial is titled Adjuvant 3DCRT/IMRT in Combination with Androgen Suppression and Docetaxel for High Risk Prostate Cancer Patients Post-Prostatectomy (RTOG 0621)Principal Research Doctor Mark Hurwitz MD Dana Farber Brigham and Woman's Hospital.NFW To: ProstateCancerSupport Sent: Tuesday, January 24, 2012 8:22 PM Subject: Re: Re: prostate cancer spreading to sphincter muscle

> Hi ,

> My 2010 surgery follow up pathology report, upgraded my

> pre-surgery low volume Gleason 7 to a Gleason 9 with a lot of

> cancer found in the apex area. I remember my surgeon saying

> that the report also said that stray cancer cells had been

> found in muscle tissue (and that there is no muscle tissue

> within the prostate). He went on to suggest that in 3 months I

> go meet with an oncologist and a radiologist. Encouragingly, he

> also bet me that my post surgery PSA result would be non-detect

> and thankfully, he was right about that but I took his

> suggestion to see the oncologist and radiation docs anyway.

> They told me about a trial that was for people like me who had

> a greater than 50% chance of re-occurrence within 3 years. It

> consisted of hormones followed by radiation and then chemo. The

> hormones and radiation combination are considered standard

> treatment, it was the addition of chemo that was being trialed.

>

> I chose to participate, and now almost 2 years post surgery, my

> PSA is still <0.1 (Thank you God!!) and I'm fully aware that

> there's a long way to go before I'm in the clear.

>

> If you'd like further information regarding this treatment, I'd

> be happy to provide it. Best of luck with whatever path you

> choose.

>

> NFW

NFW,

That was an interesting trial. If I may, I'd like to ask you

some questions about it.

1. Are you still on hormone therapy? If not, how long ago did

you finish it?

2. Was the chemotherapy docetaxel, or something else?

3. How did you find the chemotherapy? Was it easy? Tough? Do

you have any lasting side effects from it?

4. Can you identify the trial for us, e.g. by its

"ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier" (NCT number), or perhaps by

the name of the principal investigator?

Thanks.

Alan