new here, well new to this board :(

Dear Carla,

I am sorry for the loss that you have experienced.

There was a study done among Askenozi Jews at Albert Einstein Medical Center which showed some correlation between breast and prostate cancer so please do the screenings for breast cancer, managram , etc and eat heart healthy, Heart heathy is Breast Cancer and Prostate Cancer Healthy.

Blood relatives of your father, say one of your uncles are more likely to be diagnosed than the rest of the population, so please notify his relatives so they can be screened.

It is a good idea for your father to post directly at this site.

Now about the specifics of your fathers case.

In order to provide advise about your fathers case, more information is needed, specifically

In the biopsy that he had , how many cores were taken?

How many were positive.

The gleason score: you mentioned a gleason 7...there are two other numbers, so your fathers score can be a 4+3=7 or a 3+4-7, there is a difference--the first number is the most predomint finding in the core, a 4+3=7 is more serious than a 3+4=7

Of each of the core(s) that were positive what was the gleason number

For each core that was positive , what was the involvement, that is what percent of the core was cancerous (all this information is found in the pathology report...your father needs to have a copy of the report and all report that were done for him, so he can bring to other docs for consults.

 

What is the history of his PSA's

What did the digital rectal exam (finger wave) indicate?

What promted your father to get a biopsy?

................

The American Medical Association does not recommend a bone scan for patients with a Gleason under 8, since most times Gleasons underi 8, will not indicate metasis to the bones. the spot that they found can be anything, to include trama, degenerative conditions.

There is a much better test called a MRI with a Tesla 3.0 magnet (click my name to read about the details of the test) Basically this test may show if there is extracapsular extension, where suspicious lessions are in the prostate, and how extensive they are.

At any rate prostate cancer is slow growing and highly treatable.

It is important for your father to do research,read books , internet,  attend support group(s) ......USToo.com is an international organization . You can google to find a local chapter that your father, and if he wishes for you to attend. There are also other local  support group chapters available; Some are knowledge based , other emotional based.

.I mentioned a lot, but please get back to us...we can help

Best

Hopeful

 

scareddaughter24 said:

Thanks to all who have posted

Thanks to all who have posted so far,

I guess we will know more with the results from the MRI that look at the suspicious area on the bone, We were going in thinking we would be deciding between surgery or radiation.

 

It just seems so uncommon....even the doctor who gave the results said so, for it to be a 7 and psa of 8 to have gone to the bone, particularly given his age,

Hopefully this means is might be wrong and could be something else...fingers crossed but not too hopeful! The doctor even said if he were her paitent she wouldnt have even ordered the bone scan!

 

I have no records to look at regarding the report , I think 8/12 were positive and i am not sure whether we are a 3+4 or a 4+3

Will know more soon,

Thanks for positive words. Like the Colorectal board it is great to have this support,

Carla

 

Dear Carla,

The MRI looks at the prostate and close areas aroung the prostate, not the bone.

Too soon now for you to make a treatment decision, because you do not know where you stand. But a good idea to do some research.

We can review the results of the biopsy after you get a copy of the report from the docs office. Simply make a call, or if close enough , stop by.

Best,

 

scareddaughter24 said:

so i wonder why they are

so i wonder why they are following the bone scan up with an MRI ...perhaps I have the wrong "scan" and it will be a CT?

Also new

Scared Daughter,

I too am brand new here, but not to cancer (like you, I am now a "double-boarder"). I do not even have a prostate biopsy report yet. My biopsy was few days ago, and I have over a week more to wait on that. 

I do not presume to know a lot here, but what the guys so far have been telling you is that it is very unlikely that your dad has prostate cancer in his bone marrow. It is not certain, but quite unlikely, given the limited information you have submitted thus far.  At this point try to not fixate on them ordering the MRI. The picture you have submitte thus far (whie incomplete) does not at all suggests widespread cancer.

Besides getting through Stage 3 lymphoma and needing a prostate biopsy, a lung doctor studying breathing problems that I have had for years found fibrosis in my lungs and a nodule that was not present on my last CT, five years ago.  He said it is very unlikely that it is cancer, and mentioned that all people, by the time they are 50 or so, have various "spots" show up on tests.  The difference in me and the average 58 year old walking the streets is just that THEY HAVE NOT BEEN SCANNED.  He said it is almost certinly benign, but protocol requires that it be scanned periodically for two years.  I told my family doc about it, and he said that the testing is ridiculous, but required by insurance companies and insurance lawyers, who dictate a large part of how medicine is run.  Like your doctor said, he would not even run the scan on himself ! 

The easiest way to know why the MRI was ordered is to call the doctor and ASK. Also, as one of the guys mentioned above, get a paper copy of his pathology report.  Your dad has already paid for it.

Wishing the two of you the easiest path possible,

max 

Secure proper diagnosis before anything

Carla

Please accept my condolences. Losing a mother is never easy, and more when they are young.

To add a comment to the ones you received above, I would like recommending you for not rushing in making a decision without having firstly secured proper diagnosis. This will lead to success of whatever treatment your dad chooses later.

I also was diagnosed with prostate cancer at 50 years old. This was 14 years ago, at a time when I could not be and feel healthier. Initially I did not believe in the diagnosis and thought it be a mistake. I thought that someone in the laboratory has mixed up my samples with the ones of another patient. The PSA was high at 22.4 (ng/ml) but all exams (DRE, CT, MRI, X-Rays, etc) were negative with the exception of a tinny spot on bone in the iliac, detected in a traditional bone scintigraphy scan. The biopsy of 6 needles (typical in those times) found cancer in all samples and it were voluminous. Latter they found that 2/3 of my prostate were cancerous.
The spot in bone is still there and it has never changed in shape and size along the many scans done up to date. We image it not to be cancerous.

Diagnosing metastases in bone or at the lymph nodes, in present days it is more accurate, if one does a multiparametric exam, such as the PET/CT or PET/MRI with F-Fluoride or F-choline contrast agents. The traditional bone scintigraphy (BS) or the single contrast-enhanced CT (CeCT) has low specificity which often erroneously diagnosis false negatives.

In your other post you question on the possibility of having bone metastases with negative lymph nodes. In my lay opinion this is possible to occur if we think on the way cancer cells “travel” in our systems. Traditionally, PCa cancer “visits” firstly the local lymph nodes and then it goes to far places settings in bone or organs (lungs, liver, etc) in a “friendly” environment where they manage to create a colony. This is not easy to accomplish and only fewer malignant cells manage to survive, spread and live in its newer “home”. The lymph nodes serve as a barrier filter to the entrance to our circulatory system, the transporter. It allows “free passage” only to what it considers natural and normal. Unfortunately some cancer cells seem natural and manage to “jump” on the wagon for the free ride. One should also consider that the results from the tests on lymph nodes may be a false negative due to CT’s low limitations in sensitivity and specificity.

Your parents surely appreciate your effort in their care. I would suggest you to investigate deeply in the matters of prostate cancer, its treatments, their risks and side effects, because they prejudice the quality of living. Your dad is too young and at the risk of losing what he takes today as granted. Try getting second opinions on every suggestion from his doctors.

It will be helpful to accompany him in his consultations, take notes and prepare a List of Questions, previously, to expose to the doctor. You may get ideas in these links;
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/prostate-cancer/basics/preparing-for-your-appointment/con-20029597

http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/ProstateCancer/DetailedGuide/prostate-cancer-talking-with-doctor

http://www.cancer.net/patient/All+About+Cancer/Newly+Diagnosed/Questions+to+Ask+the+Doctor

 

Diet and a change in live tactics have a big role in the fight against cancer. Here is a copy regarding nutrition and PCa;

http://cancer.ucsf.edu/_docs/crc/nutrition_prostate.pdf

Best wishes and luck in his journey.

VGama