Hi Guys
As this is the route I took and although not cured, it has been 5 years since diagnosis with a PSA of 94.4 and. I am still here with no regrets of the path I chose, although I had to go private it was worth it, so it will be interesting to see what the outcome of the trial reveals.
"Men with the deadliest form of prostate cancer are being offered surgery on the NHS for the first time in a trial aiming to save lives, the Standard can reveal.
"London surgeons are leading the UK’s participation in an international project that is investigating whether removing the prostate can slow or even stop the spread of cancer in the bones.
"Under NHS rules, men whose cancer is found to have spread, or metastasised, are not offered surgery as the disease is deemed too advanced. Instead they receive hormone treatment followed by chemotherapy and possibly immunotherapy. Survival does not usually extend beyond five years.
"Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men and is the second most deadly after lung cancer — causing 11,300 male deaths a year in Britain.
"The trial is being led by Prasanna Sooriakumaran, a consultant urological surgeon at UCLH at Westmoreland Street. He believes it has the potential to benefit a “huge number”.
"A total of 21 men have taken part in the trial to date — 17 at UCLH in Westmoreland Street, three in the Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford and one in Oxford. The trial is separate to the 500 robot-assisted prostate removal operations this year at UCLH.
"The trial, which will also make use of UCLH’s two £1 million robots, uses scans to differentiate between men whose cancer has spread in up to three areas — those most likely to benefit — and those who are more widely affected.
"Mr Sooriakumaran, known as PS, said: “It’s like the prostate being the mothership and the secondary areas in the bones being the satellites.
"The theory is that if you remove the mothership it stops the satellites from progressing. In some cases it will not only prolong survival, we are hoping it will cure the man. This is giving hope to men who didn’t have hope.”
"Early indications are positive, with PSA tests on the first patients indicating the extent of their cancer has fallen after surgery. The aim is to prove that removing the prostate can improve survival rates by 30 per cent.
"The Royal Marsden and Guy’s have just joined the trial, with other hospitals in England, Germany, Sweden and Austria also taking part. A total of 418 volunteers are being sought."
standard.co.uk/news/health/...
Roy