T3a - worried about delay for treatment - Advanced or metastatic cancer

User

Posted 08 Mar 2019 at 23:24

Hi again everyone,

I'd love some advice as I'm worrying far too much.

I am (only just) 60. I have been diagnosed with T3a, Gleeson 7, prostate cancer. I have been offered a radical prostatectomy. It seems I will have to wait 3-4 months for the op. My MRI, biopsy and bone scans were all in January.

This means that the cancer will have had 6 months to spread elsewhere and the surgeon won't have any up-to-date info.

So I'm in a panic thinking that 6 months could be the difference between..... well you know.

Am I right? What can I do?

Thank you.

Chris

User

Posted 09 Mar 2019 at 08:20

Hi Chris,

The advice you want is easy to give, harder, if not impossible to implement. It's the advice we all need early on. To stop worrying. The worrying can stop or at least become more manageable as time goes on.

Sorry about the following interrogation, but the information may help others help you?

Over what timescale did all this happen?

Do you have a series of PSA results?

The Gleason score is made up of 2 numbers what was yours , 3 + 4=7, or 4 + 3 = 7?

dave

All we can do - is do all that we can.

So, do all you can to help yourself, then make the best of your time. :-)

I am the statistic.

User

Posted 09 Mar 2019 at 08:48

Are you on hormone therapy?

If so, that should stop it spreading for the time being.

If not, you might ask if you can go on 150mg daily Bicalutamide until after the operation.
Might be worth getting another PSA test done just before you start HT, to make sure it hasn't got significantly worse. (Not much point after starting HT, as that will bring it down anyway.)

HT has side effects, but not serious if just for a few months, although you might want to ask for Tomoxifen too, to prevent breast growth, or at least, be ready to get quickly it at the first signs.

User

Posted 09 Mar 2019 at 09:25

That's not good, Chris. NHS guidelines stipulate that there should be no more than 63 days between diagnosis and treatment. Perhaps you can ask if you could have surgery more quickly at a different hospital?

All the best,

Chris

User

Posted 09 Mar 2019 at 09:54

Thank you all for the advice. It's the time delay that is worrying me. I will contact the hospital on Monday to discuss both alternative hospitals and the possibility of hormone treatment.

User

Posted 09 Mar 2019 at 10:21

I waited virtually six months between diagnosis and surgery because I wanted a specific surgeon and an operation out of area on the NHS. So far it seems to have been a complete success with no need for adjuvant therapies.

I was G4+3=7, T3aN1M0

Cheers, John.

User

Posted 09 Mar 2019 at 10:53

One point not mentioned so far is that prostate cancer - compared to many others - is a slow-moving thing. It was probably present for years before it was diagnosed, and almost half the people with it are put on 'active surveillance' rather than have treatment.

Be a little reassured.

But also, ask them to consider hormone treatment while you wait, as mentioned already.

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T3a - worried about delay for treatment

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