When will chemo start?

Early chemo doesn't mean it will be given really quickly after diagnosis ... It means that chemo is being given before the man is considered to be terminally ill. In the past chemo was only given to men who had run out of other treatment options so 'early' means 'earlier than we used to'

Thanks everyone, this has been very helpful. Although dad was properly diagnosed 2 weeks ago, he had his very first appointment back in December. The urologist said because his psa was so high and he could feel the prostate he started him on bicalutamide straight away. Decapeptyl injection followed and in the mean time the mri, ct and bone scans took place as well as the biopsy.

His first decapeptyl was 6 weeks ago now. So really he should know by the time he gets his next injection when the chemo should be starting? I'm assuming they like to see how well the hormone therapy is working before starting it?

I’ll dig out my notes and let you know for sure later, but although my chemotherapy treatment started at the end of the October I knew well in advance of that the dates and times of all my cycles. Maybe it was that the urologists (I saw two) only dealt with the actual diagnosis and ordering scans. After that all appointments were at the West of Scotland Cancer Centre and I haven’t seen a urologist since.

If your dad has been give a specialist nurse to contact she might be able to throw some light on it. Or his consultants secretary - that is one of the reasons they are there. Don’t be nervous about contacting them - you’ll be surprised how helpful they are. Don’t just hope for the best - the help and info will be there.

Dave

As promised earlier Miffy I’ve consulted the notes taken at the first appointments.
First oncologist appointment was 6th Sept. 2016. My daughter took notes at the time so the info here is correct and not something I may have remembered. It was decided that I should start hormone therapy right away and when that was established to start chemotherapy in around six weeks. I started a three week course of Bicalutomide 9th Sept. with my first Decapeptyl jab 16th Sept. Next clinic appointment on 25th Sept was when I signed chemotherapy consent form with a view to starting 1st Nov - it in fact started 26th October 2016

Hope this info helps

Dave

Six cycles, three weeks apart. Each one was preceded by a blood test for PSA and to make sure my bloods showed I was ok for the next cycle with a medical checkup the day before. No need for further treatment at the moment, other than lifelong Decapeptyl.

I thought you might be interested how my PSA was affected once treatment started. Initially it was 67. Three weeks after first HT jab it was 10. The following ones were all during chemotherapy treatment - 7.6; 6.9; 4.2; 2.4; 0.8; Then once the cycles finished it was 0.4. All since then have been <0.I with the last three described as undetectable.

Dave