How long to wait for radiotherapy

I’m sure there must be some clinical input to the treatment timeline and to the urgency of starting. If you wanted to add more detail about your diagnosis. Others might find it easier to give advice. 

it might be the holiday is a good idea. 

Radiotherapy will be along shortly meanwhile the cancer is a slug like thing and will not get anywhere even if it were double that time.

As for going away, make sure your insurance covers you now. Insurancewith are very good.

Please don’t panic, there’s no reason to just now.

So while we wait, can you add a bit of your treatments and time line in the profile section on this, your every page. Press the green button on your page above (the one with a green sofa chair on it) and we will be able to advise you better.

Good luck

Thank you for words of comfort. I have added some information to my profile which means little to me but which may help kind people like you offering advice

Its usually 3-4 months from the start of hormone therapy. The delay is deliberate as the hormone therapy will shrink the prostate and make the cancer more sensitive to radiation giving improved outcomes.

Overall many patients find radiotherapy a very positive experience and there are a couple of threads discussing this on these forums. You will have day to day contact with the radiotherapy team if you have any questions/issues and the opportunity to socialise with your patient cohort for a bit of light relief.

Best of Luck Rob (Sandberg)

Hello Rawsoftba9a24   I had a similar diagnosis to yourself, albeit G9 acinar adenocarcinoma in my case. Between starting hormone therapy (Zoladex) injections and radiotherapy was just over 6 months. The RT planning scan was a couple of weeks before the first fraction. Whether our two different types of cancer cells affects the timescales I don’t know. 

Thank you. At the original consultation in September 2025 I was told that the treatment might start in January or February so that fits in well with the 3-4 months that you mention. The radiotherapy treatment and possible side effects sound horrendous, but I want to get on with it and try to resume my life. I appreciate you guidance.

Thank you. I need to be patient.

The schedule does seem to tally with mine and the diagnosis not dissimilar back in 2021. 

My EBRT was prostate only (although it probably shouldn't have been!) but it certainly was not in anyway "horrendous"  -  bladder emptying etc a bit awkward but no side effects. I cycled every day of the 28 over which 20 sessions spread. Post-RT side effects, while still on HT, seem to vary a lot between individuals and from week to week, but in my case very little impact on QoL except almost inevitable ED.

The treatment really shouldn't be too bad!

Good luck, Dave.

Thank you Dave. Your comments were very helpful. I was surprised and delighted to know that you cycled every day during the treatment. Prior to this process I cycled not less than 20 miles a day and I miss it. I still get out when I can but the last nine months have been more challenging as I managed to rupture my Achilles on the tennis court and was in a medical boot while I was having all the tests prior to the diagnosis. Living the dream  I am slowly getting back into cycling and the fact that I may be able to cycle during treatment gives me encouragement. Many thanks,

I had a long list of eye-watering potential side-effects read to me and signed to say I understood and accepted them. The oncologist then said they were mostly highly unlikely but she had to go through them! My bio explains what actually happened after 20 fractions of TomoTherapy… 

And if you haven’t already seen it there are a number of people’s views of their radiotherapy experience here:

https://community.macmillan.org.uk/cancer_types/prostate-cancer-forum/f/general/300926/what-do-you-wish-you-had-known-before-starting-radiotherapy