Urologist & Oncologist

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User

Posted 08 Jan 2017 at 12:16

Hi All, Up to now all my treatment for PCa has been under the control of my Urologist/Surgeon......as I may be heading for further treatment Post RP where does the Oncologist come into the picture.....does he/she take over or work in conjunction with the Urologist?......a bit confused as to what role the Oncologist has to play and to offer what isn't already covered by the Urologist......Cheers, Paul.....

User

Posted 08 Jan 2017 at 13:32

Oncologists are specialists in cancer treatments other than surgery; urologists are surgeons. The onco would usually write the computer programme etc for your radiotherapy and decide which (if any) hormones to prescribe. If chemo was required that would also be overseen by the onco.

Ideally you will be referred to the oncologist without any hesitation - we have had members in the past whose urologists have tried to manage the advancing cancer themselves and it has not ended well; they may not be as up to date with advances in HT and other new treatment regimes.

In our case, the onco and uro have jointly managed John's care - we see them in turn each 3 months so every 6 months we see the onco and every 6 months we see the uro. They have access to each others notes.

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard

User

Posted 08 Jan 2017 at 14:41

Hi Paul,
My further treatment is now taken over by the oncologist , at the moment my treatment is in limbo, because of the rise in my PSA I had a PET scan. The result of that was the cancer had moved to my thigh bones ,however the radiologist was not convinced so I am now waiting for an MRI scan, ( every week we sufferers are discussed at a case conference by the team) then treatment can be determined either HT or RT.
When I had my Robotic surgery last year I thought that was the end of it, not so, the journey continues.
All the best
James

User

Posted 08 Jan 2017 at 15:32

My experience is that once my husband had hid RP, he was handed to the oncologist to oversee his radiotherapy, then he kept up six monthly PSA tests, once his PSA increased then he was back to oncology for ongoing hormone treatment and managing his PSA levels. He feels that the oncology have got a good overview of his treatment, plus his hospital fulfills the cancer protocol whereas the urology department wa a bit ' hit and miss' not getting the results of his scans etc.

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