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If you reach the point you begin to think in terms of treatment you would do well to research proton therapy more thoroughly. The best resource is probably Bob Markini's book "You Can Beat Prostate Cancer..." For starters however see my journal; its free and I think you will find it informative;see http://protondon.blogspot.com/
Regards Don O.
Bob,
With a psa of over 10 and a G7 rather than a G6, AS is much risker than those on AS who are in the true low risk catagory.
I would get a Color Doppler ultrasound or an MRIS to insure the tumor is fully contained before I continued on AS or made a treatment decision.
A new study on the New Prostate Cancer Infolink showed that delayed treatment even for intermediate risk patients had the same results as immediate treatment; this should be encouraging for men with your stats.
JohnT
Thanks John T - that 's helpful information. It can be quite confusing = in a new book Invasion of the Prostate Snatchers - studies from respected medical schools are showing that life span is ever so slightly longer for low/intermediate p cancer people with AS than with any of the aggressive treatments.
Bob,
I was similar insofar as initial diagnosis, with a gleason of 4+3 and a PSA of 7.1 back in May 07. I did go for robotic surgery and it was found that I had extra prostatic extension and a small positive margin. After the surgery my PSA was 0.1. So three months after surgery I had 30 radiation treatments of 2Gy each.
Just this week I had a 6 month interval PSA test which yielded continued values of 0.0. I keep a good diet and plenty of exercise and am every bit as well off as I was before treatment except for erectile dysfunction. I've got life there, it swells up, but not stiff enough. I certainly have less urinary urgency than I did before my surgery.
So this is another outcome for you to think about.
Bill
Gleason 4-3, PSA 12 and rising, doctor urging action, patient 65 years old. I agree that many people may be best served by utilizing a disciplined "watchful waiting" program - dependent upon circumstances. I just personally don't see how this situation is in any way best served by going that route.
