[M59][EU] Why the recurrence rate% is so high even with brachytherapy+external beam for prostate can

OK I guess this is sufficiently different to your other questions it deserves a thread of its own.

Three answers I can think of.

1. Micro mets far away from the prostate

2. Some cancer cells can be dormant whilst being blasted, they later wake up and continue their evil job. I believe RT is spread over several weeks to try and catch them all awake at some point.

3. Assuming all the cancer is cleared, you are sitting there with a healthy prostate just like it was when you were a healthy 20 year old. Well that 20 year old prostate turned bad in about thirty years. So expect the same from your squeaky clean new one (in fact it ain't squeaky clean, so perhaps expect brand new cancer within ten years, but don't worry you will be 70 by then, and it probably won't become life threatening until you are over 90, if you live that long)

If you're worried about option 3. get a prostatectomy, and worry about incontinence whilst you're still relatively young.

Cancer is **** but you've got it. 

Edited by member 28 Jul 2021 at 13:42  | Reason: Not specified

There are different types of PCa, a number of 27 has been suggested. Some types are more radio resistant than others. The DNA may not have been sufficiently damaged in some of the cancer cells so that these are able to recover or they might have been missed or beyond the reach of the administered radiation dose. The delivered dose is shaped to limit exposure to other organs, so this may account for some cancer cells being missed or not receiving a full dose, so in time a new tumour may form. Some cancer cells may have already have escaped but couldn't be identified. It cannot be predicted how quickly or over what period it can take to become a problem. In my case high quality scans (done on a regular basis as my treatment was within a trial), showed nothing for some two years after radiation treatment. My PSA started to increase slowly but persistently after that but an MRI showed a new tumour had grown. (In some men the cancer cells are more diffused, at least at such an early stage so may not be able to be identified by scans).

Hormone treatment can work together with RT to eradicate tumours or of itself control progression of the disease as it reduces the Testosterone on which the cancer cells feed. HT may work for months or years but eventually cancer cells learn how to get by without Testosterone so this treatment can of itself become ineffective.

Cells grow naturally in the body but in some cases something goes wrong, so instead of growing in a proper and controlled way, they grow in an irregular and uncontrolled way, You an see this where somebody grows a wort which may be triggered by a virus or infection causing abnormal new cells to grow (not that these are necessarily cancerous but to illustrate). Prostate cells can grow into cancer cells. The precise reason for this has not been identified as far as I am aware but it has been observed that the incidence of PCa in men of some Eastern countries is less than those in Western Countries. However, when men from these countries relocate to more developed Western countries, after a few years their risk increases to the level of the Western country. From this it is postulated that diet in the Eastern country plays at least a contributing part. Unfortunately, once you have been diagnosed there is no firm research establishing that if you change your diet it will assist in treating PCa, although some men believe it might. Of course it's good to avoid an unhealthy diet for other reasons.

If you can find out what stops PCa growing, (other than existing treatment after diagnosis), you could share with me and together we could make a lot of money as well as stopping a rotten disease!!

In all seriousness, if you want to get deeply into PCa there are many books on the subject and lectures by professionals on the net. Although collectively here we have a pretty good idea of the basics and our individual experiences, we are not doctors. PCa is a very variable disease which affects men in different ways and to which men can respond differently to treatment. You should always be guided by your consultant who will have your personal histology and scans and knowledge and back up to provide best informed advice, that is of course if you get to finding someone who meets your requirements!

That's an easy question. The answer is: the same nutrients as every other cell in your body. Indeed by stopping eating you really can starve the canver to death, but with the collateral damage of killing yourself.