Results letter

Hi Simon64 - yes, this seems to be in order and I expect your bone scan to be clear (don’t be too spooked by the PSA of 20: the most important indication is the Gleason 3-4 with only 10% of it being Gleason 4.  Histology is king, as they say.  You should be on a curative pathway and I think you will be offered surgery or radiotherapy.   AW

Thanks.   Appreciate your reply 

Hi, those results seem good, and by good I mean it’s caught early.  Let’s hope the other results are clear.  May 29th seems a long way off, is there a reason for this delay ?   Try not to go on google about this, instead stay with this group. You may well be offered active surveillance as I was and I had similar results but 30% not 10, so yours is much better. I think the care co-ordination might be the nurse who I saw 1st, who advised the options.  To be honest, that meeting shook me up because I didn’t know my results at that point so all I heard was you have cancer, but my brother was with me who picked up a lot more, then I spent a month doing my homework before meeting what they call an MDT which consisted of a surgeon and a radiologist.. Have a look at my bio.    Just remember though, this is good news in one way because it’s very early, it could have been much worse had you not done this check   What prompted you to go 

I don’t think it will be active surveillance as it said on another report there was perennial invasion    I went and had a check as it was offered at work and something in my mind said I should go because of my age.  It was odd really as I’ve always had a thing about doctors etc( has that changed now ! )   I’ve stopped going on Google and use this group as my point of reference.   Cheers 

Hi Simon'

It's a very scary time for you. T2 is great, well I mean you have prostate cancer, but you are on a very treatable pathway. I agree with Alpine Wanderer and Bluecloud1 Surgery, Radiotherapy so that's your next research. Then you will be informed and have some questions to ask at your appointment. The thing that I would look at or ask is about- is surgery becoming a bit more obsolete now that radiotherapy has improved so much in recent years? more targeted. Some men find that they have surgery and then find that they also need Radiotherapy to mop up any margins around the cancer. would you need both? you can then probably look towards RT if that's the case. Is it small enough to cut out cleanly? In its simplest form you are looking at "cut it out" or "burn? it out" they both do the same thing= kill the cancer. What you want to know is how big is the cancer and where abouts is itin the prostate? is its easy to cut out? will it hit nerves? what problems could you be looking at with nerve damage, same with RT , what can you expect.  I would ask to see it on the scans, it really gives you perspective of what you are dealing with. Will you need Hormone therapy after and for how long?

This is a great discussion on this forum. Surgery Vs Radiotherapy/Brachytherapy and you will find lots of opinions if you search. also look at sites like Macmillan and Prostate cancer UK as there's solid advice there. Don't bother with any information that is dated either, while googling you can find yourself reading very outdated things, that have no relevance now.

I think you will definitely live to tell the tale, there's a journey ahead, but you should be able to put it behind you in a year or so. Do keep us posted on your progress as it helps everyone here, especially when someone has something new or any tips with recovery. 

Best wishes Lorraine 

Thank you so much for all your kinds words . I agree that it has been a very scary time. 4 weeks ago I was totally unaware.   I’ve had no symptoms at all and I feel well apart from this thing inside me now !    Like I said I’ve stopped going on Google as it all seems doom and gloom if you put your results etc in.  Have a good Easter everyone 

Such a shock for you. Hopefully the bone scan will be clear and it will be plain sailing for you. If there's something there it can be targeted with RT. Hold steady, PC is very slow growing and very treatable. 

L

Simon64 said:

perennial invasion

Hi Simon64 - you mean Perineural invasion (PNI) refers to the suspect cancer cells surrounding nerves in the prostate gland. They could use these as pathways to go “walkabout” as Millibob would say.  HOWEVER, this only means (as you correctly pointed out) that you are not a candidate for active surveillance (AS).  Don’t worry - the radiation (or removal) will kill or remove the cancer cells wherever they are in the locality of the prostate. You’ve caught yours early, so the PNI is noted but will be cured by the treatment (whichever you choose). In your shoes, I would be looking closely at brachytherapy or brachytherapy boost (plus some hormone therapy) as a catch all approach.  Check out my own journey (click on the snowy scene).  AW

Thanks for your info.  I always get the spelling wrong   With my results is it likely that they have gone  walkabout   Is the fact there’s nothing in the lymp nodes a good sign.   I wish I had asked all these questions at the intial meeting but after the “ you’ve got cancer” talk it all became a bit of a blur.   Cheers 

Hi Simon64 - on the contrary : with your stats, I think that the prostate cancer is still contained.  Remember, the PSA number is only a warning light on the dashboard to take a look under the bonnet.  The hIstology from your biopsy shows early cancer.  Histology is king.      AW