Prostate cancer diagnosis - GP and Consultants missed symptoms

Hi Cam and welcome to this forum though sorry for the reason that brings you here.

More men of 72 will have PCa than those who don't and the vast majority will die of something else. Early diagnosis does help the doctors monitor men and treat those where the cancer looks like it will need to be treated. Unfortunately, your Dad was not diagnosed until the cancer was locally advanced (T3) which could be a reason for not suggesting surgery. Suitably fit men older than your dad sometimes have surgery, though unsuitability could be a reason or contributory reason not to have surgery. There could also be other reasons, due to general health and the fact that the cancer has spread outside the prostate. For such men Hormone Therapy is frequently prescribed, as in your dad's situation, sometimes with the addition of radiotherapy. Chemotherapy and other drugs may be used. A lot depends on how well the various therapies work on an individual patient - here the experience of the oncologist is important and the patient will receive individual specific advice.

Unfortunately, there is not much that you can do personally but be attentive and ensure that dad does what his oncologist suggests whilst considering any alternatives that may be offered. There are about 27 types of prostate cancer and some put out more PSA than others so in itself PSA is not a definitive guide. The Gleason score indicative of how far cancer cells have mutated from normal and how far they have spread (staging) becomes more important and can help dictate treatment.