re CT scan

I am a recent entry to this club and have recently, at age 63, been diagnosed with a slow growing cancer on my prostate. The MRI scan showed that I had a slightly large prostate (55 ml) and that it had a lesion of 1.5 cm. The biopsy showed that my cancer was either in category 1 or 2 (see my earlier messages re what this actually means).

At your age (81), if my consultant is to be believed and there is no reason for me to discount what he told me, all men of your age have a form of prostate cancer. Most prostate cancers are slow growing and somebody with it, certainly at your age, is likely to die of something else e.g. old age. It seems fairly common for a CT scan to be undertaken to see if the cancer has spread to the bones etc and I assume that a biopsy has been ruled out (to determine the category type of the cancer) because of your age. It might be worthwhile asking your hospital why a biopsy has been ruled out just so you know. A high PSA at your age is almost to be expected,  so I would not be too concerned that this is higher than  the usual level (4)  that is used for much younger guys when scans/biopsies are undertaken.

Keep us informed of developments

Edited by member 16 Jun 2021 at 14:20  | Reason: Not specified

Why did you have the MRI scan in the first instance?

Cheers, John.

Hi Gra1

You are at an awkward age. You're life expectancy is probably just under ten years, and that is around the cut off point for aggressive treatment of PCa. The treatment for PCa is worse than the disease, so the medics have a choice, treat you now and make the next two years or so of your life a bit miserable, and then you get to live to about 90 and die of some other horrible disease, or let you carry on enjoying your life in reasonable health and accept that PCa may get you at about 87, it won't be a pleasant end but it will be reasonably quick and at least you can carry on having fun for a few years.

Your cancer is not too aggressive and probably not spread. Once you start having biopsies you are on the treadmill of endless tests and treatments. A CT scan to see how things are going and give a baseline for seeing how fast it is spreading, with a view of hopefully doing nothing and maybe starting you on HT in a few years time if things start advancing sounds a good idea, to me. Does it sound a good idea to you?

Take up some dangerous sports, that's best way of avoiding death by cancer.

As well as determining the type of cancer, as was mentioned above, the purpose of a biopsy is to sample suspicious areas and grade and plot any found to be cancerous. Some men, even those quite elderly, prefer to have a treatment that may mean they can postpone or avoid completely having HT or other systemic treatment,

Gra 

Could be a CT scan with contrast, you may be injected with a dye or drink something. All my CT scans have involved an injection that gives you a warm feeling as it goes in.

Thanks Chris