Active Surveillance

Hi Phil

I was on AS for 4 years from 2013.

It went ok but u just need to keep on top of things IE PSA every 3 months , u don't give any PSA figures?

Also MRI pref every year.

Keep your eye on tumour size in case getting near the the capsule edge which is what happened to me.

So my largest tumour went from. 3mm to about 13mm over the 4 years.

Treatment options are obviously always there so probably start thinking about if going for surgery or RT.

All the best

Steve 

Hello Phil (SheffieldPhil794ea6) 

Welcome to the group - let me say at the outset I am not a fan of AS, whilst Prostate Cancer is slow growing it's not going away, so my view is to treat it whist you are younger and fitter.

As Steve (Grundo) said if you let us have some more details perhaps we can help you better, and is your Gleason 7 a 3+4 or 4+3?

Treatment also removes the anxiety of waiting for scans and results.

Best wishes - Brian.

hi, i was diagnosed late last year, gleason 7. 3+4.   I was offered everything, and as much as AS seemed good, i know i would not have handled it well and would have felt at some stage it would rise and then force another decision, i didnt fancy having ED issues nor incontinece risks so i opted for ldr brachytherapy and nothing else. that was Feb 14th this year and at this point i am almost fully back to normal with some still urgent rushes to the toilet, but not had one accident yet on that front but a few near misses.  see my biograpy 

I was on AS for 2 years from March 2022, and for me the decision was simple. I always assumed that I would need treatment at some stage, but the chance of another couple of years living life as normal (before the risks of side effects from the treatment) was a no brainer.

I always remember the meeting I had with the specialist nurse when I received my diagnosis. She said men fall into 2 categories:

• some can't stand the thought of having cancer and want it removed immediately
• others are more relaxed about low level diagnosis, and are happy to be guided by the medical team