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I'm 54. i had my prostate removed three and a half years ago. My psa three months after surgery was .2. my doctor had told me after the op. that he'd gotten it all. the post op. biopsy showed that the cancer was near the bladder wall in 1 percent of the entire prostate area. There was no tacky tissue or evidence of it having gotten out. So the doctor thought the .2 was just residual psa in the blood and would work its way out. It stayed at .2 for a year and a half. Then went down to .1. Six months later back to .2. Then .3.Now .4. Time to radiate the prostate bed, they said.
My problem with this is that this was and is cancer cells. Mri showed no masses. Could the cancer have left the prostate bed or even the pelvic bed leaving me open to cancer beyond this area after being there for 3.5 years. My encologist says, yes, but not likely. Should i go through with the radiation and its possible complications only to have it pop up somewhere else... oh ya, i start radiation tomorrow. tommorrow
Couple of questions - Did they take the seminal vesicles and lymph nodes during the surgery? What were the results of the pathology reports?
If they were clear, then there is a good possibility that the cancer is primarily still in the prostate bed. The fact that the PSA never was undetectable after surgery would indicate that some cancer was likely still in the bed. I would go ahead with the radiation. I didn't have any side effects from my radiation treatments. My cancer was outside the prostate and in the seminal vesicles and lymph nodes, but felt it was still worth doing the radiation. I felt that if it was only in the bed then I would probably get rid of it. If I didn't have the radiation, then I was guarateeing that it would most likely spread further before we found it.
I had surgery 2 years ago at 53 years old. I too had a PSA reading of. 2 after 3 months. I had radiation and concerent hormone treatment. PSA now less than. 1. No serious side effects during radiation.
I just finished salvage radiation and Hormone deprivation therapy. So far no side effects from radiation and just annoying hot flashes from Lupron. My PSA started rising one year after surgery. I started radiation when PSA got to .36. From my research the effectiveness is higher if done before PSA reaches .5. I am just hoping the remaining cancer did not spread. No way of knowing at this point.
