Prostate Cancer

[eve1974]

Hi anyone (esp squad) able to help with positive scenario

My dad : 72yr
Below is text from my mum.

PSA 14
Prostate swollen, hard lump which makes urologist think tumour. MRI will give further detail. Also did ultrasound. If MRI indicates tumour next will be a biopsy. He is not emptying bladder fully. After sample for dr there was still 250ml in bladder. Of course, he doesn't want to drink much and I worry about flushing kidneys and dehydration but can understand.

The mri will show grading and type of cancer. If aggressive will need prostate removal if slow then medication


As they left urologist he said “sorry to give you probable bad news”

(My own concerns are - if it’s aggressive is it curable ? Symptoms do seem to have come on quite fast.

Also at 72 my dad still works full time (he lives in South Africa there is no nhs and he must work as cannot afford not to) and if there is a prostatectomy I think he will surely be unable to work for a while! And wld they prob do chemo I wonder?

[Buenchico]

I've never heard of a PET scan but it appears, from reading my link below, that I might have already had one (or, at least, a PET-CT scan anyway):
https://prostatecanceruk.org/prostate-information/prostate-tests/scans-to-see-if-your-cancer-has-spread

The answer to your question about it's purpose appears to be in this quote from that page: "The scan can detect very small areas of cancer". So the radiologist and cancer specialist will be trying to make sure that there aren't some areas of spread that weren't picked up by the previous scans.

I'm confused by the bit about having to remain very still after being injected with a radioactive dye though. In between receiving the dye and having my scan (which was only described to me as a CT one, rather than as PET or PET-CT), I hopped on a bus, went shopping and eat a pub lunch!

[davebro]

Got my PSA result back - 5.8 - in normal range for my age but worth monitoring at (maybe) 6 month intervals - NHS permitting.

[Buenchico]

^^^ I hope that your PSA score stays at around that level, Dave.

(Having been up at 135 at the time of my cancer diagnosis, my most recent figure was just 0.46).

[Sqad]

Eve bring up another new thread e.g Prostate Cancer 2 as your original may get lost with time.

[eve1974]

An update: (I haven’t been on AB in quite a while)

Tomo my dad is due to have a radical prostatectomy. Removing various nodes, seminal vesicles, part of urethra.

Docs said that whatever subtype of prostate cancer it is that it is an “aggressive “ type. But that there is a 25% chance this op will work. (Now some chance is better than no chance is my dads mindset - which is a good mindset to have).

No decision on radiation / chemo until February (something to do with seeing what psa is 2 months after op).

His Gleason is 9.,.. but I keep thinking of buenchico who is doing bloody marvellously with same gleeson. Chris so glad I can think of you as an example.

Also was going to fly out to sa at Xmas (where my parents live) but …. South Africa in covid red zone again.