Maybe I'm getting cold feet? I had ruled out radiation because the hormone therapy would be bad for my comorbidities of diabetes and cardiac, so I researched the best doc and hospital in Chicago and on Wednesday I am going in for RP surgery.
However, by total coincidence I am going in for a new type of MRI tomorrow: 2 hours of laying still, and I learned it's part of a study to use in the future for FLA. So I have done a ton of research in the last day as to if I am a candidate for FLA, if my Blue Cross PPO of IL will pay for it, etc. It is presently Sunday so I can't contact the Univ of Chicago's Uro department.
My reservations are there is no long track record for FLA, and I am reading that as a G 4+3 I may have missed the cut off? There seems to be two well known privately owned (red flag) FLA clinics, but I'd like to have it done in a teaching hospital where there's no profit motive.
So, any advice would be greatly appreciated and when I go in for the experimental MRI tomorrow I will try to see if I am a candidate and possibly postpone Wednesday's surgery.
Thanks!
Nick
Joined: Aug 2014
Forget it
Stick with your plan and don't go with a largely untested procedure.
But, with your test results (and other health issues), I would have seriously considered SBRT for treatment.
Joined: May 2017
If it were me, I would not go
If it were me, I would not go with a treatment option that new and with limited rigorous study data unless I was trying to solve a difficult problem that cannot be addressed by established successful procedures. Surgeons are saving lives everyday with RP and unless you have an advanced case you have a high chance of cure. In addition other procedures will still be available to you later. With FLA I don't know what your salvage options would be. What is it about FLA that appeals to you more than surgery?
how many RP's has your surgeon done?
George
Joined: Apr 2009
SBRT
FLA is new, in theory is great, however technology is not advanced at this date for excellent outcome. Additionally it is oriented to small amounts of 3+3=6
Surgery can have major side effects, more so than any other active treatment.
SBRT has limited side effects while still having excellent cure results
Here is a study
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4211385/
More:
https://prostatecancerinfolink.net/2016/01/06/nine-year-outcomes-after-treatment-with-sbrt/