40s, aggressive cancer

lupiecaregiver

I'm trying to be a caregiver for my partner who was diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer in his 40s (high genetic risk). RP was 10 months ago. PSA started riding steeply, so he's now in Week 3 of 8 for RT, going to start ADT soon. Pre-RP scores were Grade 5, Gleason 9 (4+5). Downgraded to 7 at biopsy, but both the urologist and radonc were deeply concerned by the rising PSA and strongly advised ADT.

None of the literature or research discusses aggressive prostate cancer for patients in their 40s. Is there anybody on here in a similar situation? How was your ADT experience and recovery, and how is your survivorship going? Would really love to have an idea of what the future might be like. Thank you.

Clevelandguy

Hi,

Sorry to hear about your friends experience with Prostate cancer. Hopefully the combo of RT and ADT will kick the cancer down the road. The ADT will not kill the cancer but weaken and slow it’s growth. Has your partner had a PMSA PET scan yet to look for metastatic cancer? The PET scan is a good tool for spotting cancer growth elsewhere in the body. Other things he could look into with his medical team are Proton therapy and HIFU if the combo of RT and ADT fail to put the cancer in remission. Also a second opinion from another doctor/hospital network might not be a bad idea if the RT combo fails.

Dave 3+4

lupiecaregiver

https://csn.cancer.org/discussion/comment/1718137#Comment_1718137

Thank you, that's good to know that the ADT isn't necessarily curative. The PMSA showed something on his pelvis that could be a metastasis or osteoarthritis. I'll look into the proton therapy and HIFU as well. I hadn't thought about going out of state either, that's a good idea. Hopefully it doesn't get to that point. Thank you for your support.