Shocking PSA = 30

2ndBase said:

Radiation
My psa was 24 and gleason of 9. Of course the urologist recommends surgery. Mine did not and for that I respected him. He took the case to a tumor board and the best result was to be the use of one shot of Lupron followed by 40 radiation treatments. I was 52 when diagnosed and am now 58. The radiation killed all the cancer in the prostate which was confirmed by a follow-up biopsy last winter. My cancer had spread and so I'm still dealing with it but that was to be expected and I do not let it worry or stress me in the least. Just keep on doing what you love to do and get the stress out of your life,

nymets1 said:

Netzacat,
Do your homework.
Netzacat,

Do your homework. While some of your 30 psa may be attributable to prostatitis, it may actually benefit you to go on a prescription of antibiotics so that you could see your true psa. Now I am not saying that your true psa is going to be much lower but it may help you in making a choice.

With a relatively high psa, believed to be largely organ confined, surgery may NOT be your best alternative. Both radiation and cryo can kill areas near the prostate and may be better alternatives. And there is a salvage backup to radiation, which is cryo, while cryo has salvage backups of both radiation and cryo.

So many men get the surgery and the bad news comes...."you have extracapular pentetration or you have a more aggresive cancer than thought"....and then immediately the salvage light goes up. If in doubt, you may want to go with something that may not necessarily require salvage. Of course, they have their drawbacks, too, the main one being that not all the prostate may be killed or frozen.

Let me put this in a better frame:

Low psa, low GS, organ confined (?)....surgery is best
High psa, high GS, organ confined(?)/adjacent areas detected....surgery is likely not be best
Somewhere in between......more weight given to surgery, the better the initial diagnosis.

BTW: I put a question-mark next to organ confined because no one knows for certain unless the cancer can be actually seen away from the organ. The higher the psa and GS, the better chance that some cancer cells have escaped the prostate into nearby areas.

Peter51 said:

Take some time
Hello,

I am sorry for your husbands diagnosis of prostate cancer and for the duress that your are both now under. I agree with Harry that you should pursue more information and consider all your options before committing to the first one presented. Everyone's case is different but I have some similarities also.

Though not as high as 30, my PSA was 13.6 and considered fairly high also. I felt that I missed a year due to a "negative" biopsy as well. My prostate was triple in size to a normal one. My first urologist was also a surgeon and strongly suggested surgery by himself also. I respected him and his opinion but I wanted to carefully examine my options and get additional opinions. In the end, I had radical prostectemy by a different doctor, a leading specialist in prostate cancer at Mass General, Francis McGovern. The net time delay was merely three weeks. It is now five years out and I have no signs of cancer and still have a PSA of 0. I will forever be satisfied that I didn't waste time but took enough time to explore and compare more options from a variety of specialists. An additional expert that I saw during that time was a top radiation oncologist at Mass General. He thought sugery was better in my case and would also probably help with the frequent urination issue that I had been dealing with. My first Doctor was young without a lot of experience, he didn't volunteer that at first, only that he was a surgeon that did this proceedure. He confessed he had only been doing it for three years and only three or four times each year. Maybe he will be a great surgeon in the future but I didn't want to be part of his education. The doctor that operated on me had been doing radicals twice a week for 22 years.

I know that cancer is a fickle thing and should not be taken lightly but you might just consider that the first negative was due to the possiblity that the needles missed it since it was small at that time. Your husband may likely fall into the catagory of "early detection" and yet have an excellent outcome. Try not to despair. I don't suggest you stall in treatment just encourage carefully considering your other options and compare each of the possible outcomes and side effects. Remember that prostate cancer is generally considered a slower developing cancer and many men who are diagnosed with it often live long enough to die from some other issue. I was 50 years old at the time of my diagnosis and felt that even in slow developement, I might perish from it so wanted to act.

Remain clear in your approach to treating this and good luck. Please feel free to contact me.

Peter

Hi i am 50 just been diagnosed with prostate cancer stage 3. Psa 34 gleason 7 ( 3+4). Hasnt spread but is on border and bulging on one side. 

I understand its a slow growing cancer and want to and waiti g to get another opinion but how can one find out what is a good time in to which to get it treated or to maybe go trying to cure ot naturally as i heard people have with strict diet etc. Any ideas or info . Pmease feel free to speak your mind

Herc... you may be referring to "The Cancer Diet" that naturopathic, holistic, and Ahmish doctors have used with some success against certain kinds of cancers. It usually excludes ALL meat and dairy products and sugar, and has a strict regimen of certain raw vegetables at certain quantities at highly regulated intervals. You CANNOT use a microwave, or even be in the presence of one.

If I remember correctly, it is a 6 month regimen that CANNOT be altered at any time.

I have a close friend who was put on that diet by an Ahmish "physician" (?) and she successfully survived kidney cancer, though she was bedridden at one point with a tumor the size of a football in her side. But she stuck with it and survived, and the cancer is gone, but she is in dialysis because her kidneys suffered too much damage.

She gave the diet to a mutual friend with breast cancer, but the friend did not stick absolutely rigidly as was necessary, and the cancer metastasized. When she tried to return to a strict regimen, it was too late, and she passed away... It was a terrible tragedy for all as she left behind a daughter whose father, a good friend of mine, had died in a car accident some four years before.

Why am I telling you this? Because if that is the diet you are referring to, it  is a very difficult regimen to correctly follow. Secondly, Prostate Cancer cells are a whole different animal from other organ cell mutations. I cannot say that the Cancer Diet would be an effrctive way to treat it. I can say that Prostatectomy or SBRT and other conventional treatments ARE effective methods.

I had the option of The Cancer Diet... but chose the DaVinci Prostatectomy surgeon and I am 100% fortunate that I did. But I have to warn... I got the best surgeon available.

This is only my opinion, but every word I just told you is true to my knowledge.

Some edited addendums... that diet also prohibits fish of any kind... ONLY plant protein, and only raw. Nothing cooked, nothing processed or canned or frozen, period.

Also, the prostate is a unusual cancer for several reasons... for example...

- the prostate, as a gland/organ is rarely used... sometimes never in some cases... unlike almost all other organs and glands being used 24 hours a day. 

- the prostate can be removed or destroyed. Pretty much all others are life sustaining and must be replaced or compensated by medication or even mechanical operations like dialysis.

-  Prostate cells are notoriously slow growing and replicating, stimulated mostly by androgen reception. Other organs have faster apoptosis/replication activity... except for bone cells.

- Prostate activity can be gauged by PSA antigen nanograms/ml. making the prostate cell activity trackable.

- Because the prostate is unecessaey for QOL, it can be removed or destroyed, making conventional treatments MUCH more desirable than treatments used for other types of cancer... when  caught and tracked early.

This is all my opinion, just so you know, but since the prostate can be easily treated conventionally, I cannot see why anyone would want to risk the Cancer Diet for prostate cancer... maybe for other cancers, but not PC if caught while the cancer is contained.

I think there is a difference... not that it matters.

The Ahmish Diet is what Ahmish recommend as a generally healthy way of life.

The Cancer Diet is a strict regimen where the contents of every meal every day is preset, and even the amount of each item is weighed. For six months you ONLY eat what is written down, and you can only prepare it the way prescribed, and the exact amount prescribed. Any departure from this preset guideline risks failure.

I have a copy of the instructions somewhere. If I find it I could post it...But I am reluctant to post it if someone would use it for prostate cancer on a fool's errand.

Of course, you can never eat out, or even eat at someone else's house, unless they prepared your food exactly as the cancer diet prescribed for that day and that meal.

I am reluctant to post it if I found it, because Yv___ thought she could do it, but just could not take its strictness seriously enough. 

I may have forgotten to mention this... You cannot take any medications during that six months and no conventional cancer treatments either. Not even pain medication.

Why dont we leave it at this... Forget The Cancer Diet when treating Prostate Cancer. There are too many useful conventional Treatments that work to take the risk.

If anyone recommends a healthy diet, like the Ahmish diet, by all means that should be employed as it will enhance the immune system. But if it is "The Cancer Diet" I personally strongly recommend against it for PC just from the experience of friends.