Hi click on my avatar, to see my diagnosis which was a little worse than yours at 53 yo. Fortunately I wasn't given a choice. I had brachy, EBRT and HT. Now 4 years down the line I'm very happy with the outcome. ED a bit of a problem but a small dose of Viagra sorts that. Two years of HT was no fun, but if I were in your position I would consider adding HT for six months, it would be bearable and improves effectiveness of RT a lot.
If I had have been given a choice I would have chosen surgery but probably would have regretted it. Me being G9 T3, surgery would probably not have got all the cancer, which is the reason it was not offered to me anyway.
As a T2 surgery may successfully remove your cancer, but in about 30% of cases the tumour is found to be T3 after surgery and RT would have been the better option. Either treatment will give you about 95% chance of being cancer free 5yrs post treatment.
If you have RT you still have a prostate and it may go on to develop prostate cancer again, in a decade or two. You can't have more than one course of RT (to same organ) in a lifetime, and surgery will be almost impossible after RT, so when it recurs treatment options are limited. (But in a decade cancer might be curable with a single pill)
With cancer the five year survival rate is the benchmark, but if you're in your 50s it's the 20 or 30 year survival rate your interested in. Though I'm very happy with the outcome and have no problems, statistically my life expectancy is now early 70s; without cancer it would have been mid 80s.
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Hi Gaz, I was 53 when diagnosed with very similar results to yours; making the choice between surgery and RT was a difficult decision but I plumped for HT (Prostrap 3 monthly injections)/RT (20 x 3gy) in the end...please see my Profile for all the details....whichever way you go there are going to be side effects, I wouldn't consider that mine have been overly bad, and most were as expected from the literature on offer (and I have been able to carry on with life pretty much as normal throughout, although loss of libido etc is ongoing....); whether it bites me back at some point in the future is a risk I took, just didn't fancy the surgery and recovery from that tbh. If you have any q's give us a shout. Cheers and Good Luck whichever path you choose.
Nick
Edited by member 06 Oct 2022 at 00:02
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I agree with Dave I also had Gleason 9 but after 37 lots of radiotherapy and 2 years on hormone therapy psa now 0.01 and things are ok worked all the way through radiotherapy and still working now as I love my job good luck with your choice gaz 👍
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Yes I was given a full range of options. HT/RT, Brachy, Focal and Surgery. All were discussed in full. However it was clear that surgery was considered by the professionals to be the best option. This is because of my age. For one I was young enough and fit enough to cope with surgery and secondly in the event that the cancer returns later in life then further treatment paths are available. You will note from reading through this forum that many of us younger men with localised PCa opt for surgery, there is a reason for that.
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GazH, I am the same age as you and had very similar scores aswell, I am now 9 days post RALP. Increasing the walking, a fair bit of soreness but thankfully no pain, only issues I'm having is that the catheter often blocks in the morning then takes time to clear. Sleeping is a bit of an issue I get to sleep no problem but wake around 2am with an aching back due to being stuck in the same position.
Apart from that I am feeling very lucky and staying positive about the outcome.
Good luck in whatever path you choose I wasn't really given a choice due to cancer being close to margins and being in remission for ulcerative colitis , but if I was given a choice I would have still chosen RALP.
My wife says deal with the cancer first then we'll deal with the other problems if they happen
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Hi and very sorry to hear about your diagnosis. I was 57 last year and diagnosed with same staging. Suggest you read my thread at the link below. Hope it helps and very happy to answer any questions. I’m cured they tell me and so far so good. PSA still undetectable following RARP with retzius nerve sparing and neurosafe at Guys cancer clinic at LBH by a high volume surgeon based at RMH. Erections are 95% and still improving and no incontinence post op. I was normal weight at op and i think that helps with recovery. I also suggest you read TechGuy thread and Bollinge as their threads both helped me enormously pre op. You will be fine Im sure. Its not a pleasant place to be but in many ways life post op is better and I appreciate it much more. The people on this website are amazing and so kind and helpful and will help you through this any way they can. Good luck Jeremy
https://community.prostatecanceruk.org/posts/t27343-Just-diagnosed-with-multifocal-34-T2Bn0m0
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Hi Gaz,
Im 59- had my prostate out in Jan this year. No other options given.
PSA low now, had some ongoing issues- stenosis and then unable to pee and need to self catheterise now.
Happy to discuss
Dave
User
I was diagnosed at the age of 55. RT/HT strongly recommend in my case, so two months RT in Feb/Mar 2019 combined with 18 months HT. All very tolerable. Three and a half years down the line and everything’s fine. Even had I been given the choice, I would have opted for RT rather than surgery; I regarded the RT side-effects as preferable to the surgical ones.
Best wishes,
Chris
User
I agree with Chris I went down the same route 2 years on doing well didn't fancy all the side effects from prosectomy and told around a third need radiotherapy after a prosectomy anyway not sure if that's true but it's been mooted on here also good luck with your choice 👍