Advanced prostate cancer diagnosis

Hi Lyon - welcome to the community. Gleason Score will be given once you have the tissue biopsy. T3/4 is the staging - 3 indicates the cancer has broken out of the prostate and N1b would indicate the lymph nodes also contain cancer. 

The good news is he's had his first hormone injection and this will bring the PSA. down from 70.  Prostate cancer lives on testosterone and if he's no or little testosterone the cancer cells can't grow and reproduce - the hormone treatment will see to this.

With the NHS and prostate cancer you always are waiting for appointments, tests, results and treatments and it's a waiting game which doesn't make things easier.

I hope the above helps - as a community we are here for you - ask anything you want to know - there are plenty of good people here for you.

Kind regards

Brian.

Thank you, Brian.  It's somewhat of a relief to know that everyone has to wait  not just us!  I must get used to it.

Hi Lyon

Hi sorry to hear about your OH, waiting is a terrible thing, but PC is very slow to grow, my PSA was 893 diagnosed seven years ago, still here ( obviously ) fighting away, just listen to what your team tells you, there will be choices, ask questions when the time comes.

Stay safe

Joe

Hello Lyon, I’m sorry to hear of your OHs diagnosis. It sure is an anxious time and I think we all approach it differently. My husband refused to engage with the pc at all! He wouldn’t talk to anybody - not even the doctors and nurses we encountered at the hospital. The night before we were due to go for planning for radiotherapy he suddenly announced he was not going to go through with it!  He just tried to bury his head in the sand! I, on the other hand, did nothing but cry! Every time anybody spoke to me those darned tears would spring forth in a torrent!  Somehow we got through the radiotherapy and he’s now still on the hormone therapy. I’m trying to put those dreadful months behind us and trying to enjoy life ( darned covid currently intervening in that) . My advice is to do as much research as you can so you know as much as possible about the different treatments and side effects. This will help you feel more in control. My other piece of advice is to hold on to the fact that, even if cure is not possible, prostate cancer is usually slow growing and there is a whole armoury of drugs out there to manage it.

best of luck

Oh my goodness, that must have been so very hard for you!  Glad progress has been made though and wish you all the very best for the future.  Thanks for taking the time to respond to me, it means a lot.  Greenlight laser treatment was this morning which I gather has gone well, though not heard from him yet.  Hopefully we now have the necessary tissue for biopsy and that by the time our appointment with oncologist comes in four weeks' time she will be able to sort out a treatment plan for us..  Thanks again for your concern.

Thanks for replying, Joe.  Will follow your advice as it obviously worked for you.  All the best for the future.  

As others have said it’s a waiting game once you have had the biopsy,  your OH has started on HT now so is having treatment to reduce his PSA and slow/stop the cancer spreading. You can always contact your consultants secretary or your OH specialist nurse for any cancellation appointments but depends if his results have to be discussed in a meeting (MDT) with other specialists. Following your appointment a treatment plan will be given to you, there are different options and is your OH’s decision so take a few days and research each of them. I wish you luck x

Thank you, Paul.  The greenlight laser treatment went well last Wednesday and amazingly OH has come sailing through it so far and is doing extremely well, especially as the dreaded catheter has gone!   They now have the tissue necessary for biopsy so hopefully when we have appointment with the oncologist next month a treatment plan will have been sorted out.  We've thought of lots of things to ask in the meantime and are jotting them down. I will certainly do some reading about treatments offered.  We've been told that radiotherapy is unlikely in his case as it could cause damage to vital organs.  I do wish we'd taken more notice of the nuclear bone scan they showed us, but it's so hard to take everything in when you've just had a shock diagnosis. 

Thank you everyone for your comments and help.  It is all very much appreciated and really does help.

Ah I’m glad it went well and he is doing well. Writing questions is a good way to do it, wish I would of started it earlier as it would of saved a lot of phone calls. I don’t know what your consultant will be like but don’t feel pressured to leave before all questions are answered and you are happy, as you can be that is, I’ve heard some bad stories about consultants rushing people at appointments, luckily for me mine is fantastic. You can always ask to see his scan at appointment and have it explained to you both if you want to that is. I wish you well, take care x

Hi lyon, my dad had advance stage three prostate cancer 6 years ago. His psa just hit 0.2 (was steadily rising) and scan showed a leasion on his bone a week ago. Some doctors want to do radiation and hormones. Some just hormones. How long can he live on hormones and then being effective? And what is his life expectancy prognosis?