Recurrence rate a worry

Hello Mart1n0 just to say hello and bump your post for you

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Hi Mart1n0,
it depends on the circumstances of each patient - generally speaking, radiotherapy and surgery both have a success rate (success being that the primary treatment works and there is no recurrence of the cancer within 10 years) of around 85 - 90% for a man with an early diagnosis. For locally advanced cancer, the stats change quite dramatically - some surgeons wouldn't be prepared to operate at all. And even if it is thought to be contained, they can put all the stats into a nomogram and find that the prediction of recurrence is much higher. Also if you are young, as you are, there is more chance of it coming back. My husband was diagnosed with a T1 Gleason 3+4 and PSA of 3.1 but the hospital calculated that even with surgery, there was a 55% chance that he would need salvage treatment. We thought it was probably a mistake but sure enough, 2 years post-op the cancer came back. Salvage RT at that point was predicted to have a 80% chance of working. Touch wood, he is fine 3 years later.

So when you say UCL is predicting 1 / 3 recurrence rate, is that from Mr Google or has UCL said that in your case, it is likely to recur because of where it has already spread?

Edited by member 21 Aug 2016 at 15:42  | Reason: Not specified

Ah, so the estimated 1/3 chance is based on whether only the lymph nodes in the immediate area are affected or whether stray cells have already started to move to more remote lymph nodes? The good news (believe it or not) is that the treatment plan being recommended to you is a curative or radical course - so they must believe there is a chance of eradicating your prostate cancer.

I think you will find that RT to the pelvic region is nowhere near as traumatic as RT to the head. John had his RT each mornnig on the way to work and never really thought much about it - didn't have any time off, still went to the gym every day, played rugby on Saturdays, etc. The only real side effect for him was an occasional nap at his desk! The HT was a different ball game - he hated it - but some men cope better than others.

Why did you have head & neck RT?

I had a small tumour just above my voice box and infected lymphs there too so standard treatment is chemo rad for entire jaw and neck area , not much fun.

I gather RT down below is far less strenuous so what about HT did John find so bad, been on it four months now and apart from the no sex bit doesn't seem so bad?

Thx

M

So what next then, I'm not due to see my Onc for three months no scans or anything just a PSA test prior to seeing him.

If that's it then the whole process has been an absolute breeze compared to the Head and Neck dramas!

Long term tho there is a much higher recurrence rate for vis H&N which rarely returns after two years whereas risks for locally advanced PC is never really eliminated apparently.

So answering my own question seems it's just Fingers crossed then!

M

Congrats on finishing this round of treatment. As you say fingers crossed it has all worked as expected.