A question about metastasis.

Hi  Tom, sorry about your situation

Not easy to answer I'm afraid, depends on Gleeson mainly.

Low Gleeson ie 6 , possibly 7 (3+4) would potentially be classed as slow growing and mets could take 5+ years but u would have to monitor as things can change. Also would depend on when cancer is found ie  if tumour  is 3mm in size or 9mm in size , just an example.

Gleeson over 7 and there is no way of knowing really, just keep monitoring, again , down to size and location within the gland.

Just to give u an example I was diagnosed Gleeson 6, psa 6, 3mm size, I lasted for 4 years on active surveillance before treatment was needed/wanted. Another year and I suppose it could have gone to mets.

See what others say

Best wishes

Steve

HarleyD sorry to hear. So many factors. I was Gleason 6 psa 13 after biopsy. Due to position I had surgery, post surgery upgraded to Gleason 7 then mets discovered in ribs. 

Hi Grundo & Youngman,

                                             Thanks for taking the time to reply. My Gleason was 4+5 = 9 and PSA 86 at time of biopsy. My treatment plan is Abiraterone + prednisolone along side Prostap3 HT since the first lockdown in March. I am fortunate to live in Scotland where the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) the equivalent to NICE in the rest of the UK, has deemed Abiraterone suitable for first line treatment for men with newly diagnosed advanced prostate cancer. My consultant at the Beatson in Glasgow decided against surgery & also radiotherapy for me due to the spread being in close proximity of vital organs. I am pleased to report that my PSA has dropped from 86 to 0.1 and has stayed there for the last five months. I have of course to deal with the usual various side effects of my treatment but I can cope with these as my medication is certainly working at the moment.

As a footnote, I believe NICE are looking again at their decision (ultimately based on cost) on Abiraterone. Hopefully they will reverse their initial decision and every man in the UK can benefit from the benefits of another anti-cancer drug like Abiraterone.

Take care & stay safe,  Tom.   

Hi there,

From what I understand it can also depend on the position of the tumour in the prostate.  My Gleason was 7 (4+3).  At MRI my tumour was found to be pressing on the back of the prostate causing asmall bulge into the rectum and so T2 but  T3 disease could not be ruled out as it was imossible to see whether cancer had spread out from that bulge - sometimes in the very early stages even a PET Scan could not necessarily see minute microscopic cancer spread.  It doesn't look like the cancer had got out as nearly 4 years on my PSA is still undetectable after treatmenbt with 9 months of Hormone Therapy and 4 weeks of radiotherapy also I hope my rad.onc. blasted the whole area with RT to clear up any localised spread that may have occurred.  Never feel safe and waiting PSA test results as I write as had lots of blood tests required for anticoagulants last week and asked for PSA etc to be done then - rather than go back again in December or January when the PSA is due. 

It's really an impossible question, because there's no way to know when the cancer started. Although you were diagnosed in March, the cancer had probably been there a lot longer, probably years. For those who have no metastases at diagnosis, their appearance depends on position, Gleason score, cell type, the effectiveness of the primary treatment, and plain old fashioned bad luck.

So many prostate cancers are found by chance, rather than through symptoms. Someone whose PCa is found at stage 1 or 2 is very lucky.

I saw my doctor about blood pressure, and mentioned in passing that my 'stream' seemed reduced. She said it was probably old age and laughed. I laughed. But she investigated anyway, and I was Stage 3a. If I hadn't thought of it at that visit (it wasn't new!), it might well have been stage 4 with metastases by the time it was found.