Tony
I hope that I am answering the question or at the very least making a contribution to the debate.
My decision making, which is still incomplete, has so far been founded on my own research. I have made the following analysis to inform my decision making. The choice on the type of treatment is based upon the individual's particular disease balanced with their quality of life concern.
Going down the RT path as I have elected then leads to a decision on which type of radiation therapy is best suited to my advanced cancer, balancing efficacy with risk. I am still struggling to decide if I should do the lymph nodes. In your decision making you elected not to have hormone therapy. Unfortunately, my urologist decided that it is necessary to shrink my cancer tumours with hormone treatment prior to RT, to make it more effective. I assume that shrinking the tumour makes it easier to pinpoint and treat while minimising side effects. Nonetheless, I will never be the same man again.
As Barry has alluded to, the RT aims to destroy or damage the genes of the cancer cells. The breaks made in the cells by the radiation will stop the cancer cells from growing and dividing and over time most of them will die. Of course radiation can also cause damage to healthy cancer cells but most will recover. Reading stories on this site, it is very apparent to me that adverse reactions not only vary amongst individuals but timescales vary. RT does not always kill cancer cells immediately, for that matter, it does not always damage good cells immediately. Moreover, there is a small possibility that radiation can cause another cancer. It is a balance of benefit versus risk.
I think Barry is correct in saying that it is normally effective. My understanding is 90% success overall. I'll have some of that sir!
One factor that I think is incredibly relevant in relation to choosing treatment, particularly in considering side effects, is the age of diagnosis. I am 61 and make my choices pertinent to my expectations of life expectancy. Of course this is now a lot shorter prior to diagnosis.
I imagine my decision making at 51 would have been different to my choices at 61 or indeed 71. I don't want to sound negative but, in my thinking I have dispensed with the notion of cure and the focus in my own case is to pursue treatment that will stave off the inevitable for as long as possible and maintain a quality of life. But to get back on message 90% seems to provide a large dose of certainty, in a world where the only certainty is uncertainty.
Gabriel
Edited by member 09 Jan 2023 at 03:41
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