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Radiotherapy at St Guy's Cancer, Queen Mary's Hospital Sidcup - Radiotherapy

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User
Posted 15 Feb 2018 at 16:48

I've been on Active Surveillance under the care of St. Guy's Hospital in London since 2014. After my last biopsy and review I was told it's time for treatment and given just the 2 options of surgery or radiotherapy. The biopsy showed a second tumour with a gleason of 4+3 but I'm hoping it's all still localised although I've been very worried about a dull ache low down in my pelvis. I'm having a PET scan tomorrow so hopefully this will show exactly what's going on. 

I think I'm favouring radiotherapy although I'm concerned about the reduced options should there be a recurrence. If I have the radiotherapy at St. Guy's in London I have a bus ride to my local train station and then a 35 minute train ride into London. About a 50 min trip in both directions. I've found that St. Guy's opened a new cancer unit at my local hospital at Queen Mary's in Sidcup and when I phoned them they confirmed that they do offer radiotherapy for prostate cancer. This would be about a 25 min drive for me which I'm thinking would be a better option. The unit is described as "State of the Art" but as it only opened in May last year it doesn't really have a "track record" as such. I've read posts elsewhere that say it's import to get an experienced surgeon or radiotherapy oncologist (if that's what they're called) with 1000s of treatments under their belt. I'm not sure how you would go about doing this on the NHS but obviously the team at Guy's in London will have done many thousands of sessions whereas would I be just a little bit of a guinea pig for the unit at Queen Mary's?  Or am I worrying over nothing? Has anyone had radiotherapy at Queen Mary's - how did it go?

 

John

User
Posted 15 Feb 2018 at 17:42

Good luck with the scan tomorrow John

We can't control the winds - but we can adjust our sails
User
Posted 15 Feb 2018 at 18:25

Hi,  Isn't it normal to have hormone treatment before Radiotherapy.  That could perhaps give you a lot more time to make up your mind.  I was offered hormones at one hospital and RT at another.   There might also be a question about which hospital has the best equipment, although I'd expect Guys to have as good as you get, not that I know.

For me getting the tumour out asap was the big factor so I had the operation.  With a bit more knowledge I think if it had been near the bladder I'd have been asking if RT would be better if it has a wider spread of treatment, on the other hand that's just my unknowing thought.  I think the mention Gleason 4 predominant would move me towards surgery.

The other thing is I was told not to associate every ache with the disease as it is likely not to be associated.  Easy to say I know.

Best of luck

User
Posted 15 Feb 2018 at 19:13

Snap their hands off! New state of the art equipment under the management of an existing centre of excellence???? What is there not to love? It is true that the experience of a surgeon is significantto the long term outcomes for RP but radiotherapy is rather different - the delivery of the radiation is controlled by very detailed computer programming led by the oncologist. I imagine you would be under the same consultant whichever hospital site you choose but you could ask them to clarify this?

Don’t overthink the “if it fails” thing. Statistically, the outcome is going to be poor if the primary treatment fails regardless of which primary treatment you choose. Better to choose the treatment you believe has the best chance of working with the potential side effects you most feel you can live with.

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

User
Posted 20 Feb 2018 at 21:09

Hi all,

Been up to Guy's today to get the results of the PET scan I had on Friday and pleased to report that nothing was found outside my prostate. Spoke with both the surgery consultant and the radiotherapy consultant regarding the pros and cons of both options. I'm sure now that I have all the info available but I'm still having trouble making my mind up for sure. One of the consultants mentioned that Guys run seminars on this topic and that she would book me in for them so I'll wait and see for now.

John

 
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