a bout to start rt

I don't understand what "no mo" means - can you explain?

I think what they're saying is that you may have microscopic amounts of cancer cells that have spread elsewhere in your body, but which are currently too small to detect. Or, of course, you may not - that's the problem with something being undetectable!

I'm in the same boat, by the way. My PSA at diagnosis was 32, which is pretty high for localised PCa (which is my current diagnosis), but no external mets detected. I have my RT planning session on 4th Feb, so I'm about a month behind you. In my case I've been told they're going to irradiate both the prostate and the surrounding lymph nodes, to try to destroy any cancer cells that may have spread there.

If you've not already done so, I'd suggest downloading the information sheets that are available on this site - they're extremely useful. The PCUK nurses (freephone number at the top of the screen) are also incredibly helpful.

All the very best for your treatment,

Chris

Edited by member 31 Dec 2018 at 15:03  | Reason: Not specified

M0 means there is no cancer spread to the bones or major organs - M stands for metastases.

So your result should look something like T3 G7(3+4) N0 M0

The T tells you whether the cancer is tiny, a bit bigger but still inside the prostate gland or has broken out of the edge and is growing on the outside of the gland. Yours is locally advanced which is probably T3 or could be T4.

The G tells you how distorted the cancer cells are, 3 being the least distorted and 5 being the most distorted. They add together to two most common patterns they can see in your biopsy samples.

The person who mentioned the possibility of micromets may just have been trying to manage your expectations a little bit. If they had reason to believe you definitely have micromets, they would not be offering you curative treatment so it sounds like he was simply saying this treatment regime should cure you but years down the line it might come back.