Morning all,
Along with some others, I'm soon to start the "How Genes Influence Cancer Development" course and have been sent an eBook as preparatory reading.
This eBook book discusses how cancer (general) starts off up to and including Mets.
All good stuff, I will need to read it a few times as a lot of it is currently over my head.
However, the book discusses cancer in the general sense but is not specific for PCa.
As a general rule of thumb as a layman the perceived treatments are Radio Therapy and / or Chemotherapy.
But for PCa, Chemo is used as palliative only. Many other cancers use Chemo for curative therapy.
After reading the book the implication is that the genesis of all cancers are similar and they use similar mechanisms for propagation.
So if the pathways PCa uses for growth are generally comparative to other cancers why is Chemo not used for curative purposes?
I'm guessing that the book is too general and when peeling back a few layers the subtlety of PCa and how it operates will give clarity.
When I was diagnosed I dropped into the treatment groove and I've accepted the treatment path as being HT -> RP /RT with no Chemo until mets (major generalisation) but I don't understand why.
Plus I've always felt a bit weird when explaining that to concerned fiends / well wishers as I don't really have the answer other than "it's only used for palliative purposes"
Anyone have any ideas?
Inquisitive minds want to know, even if they are bogged down by HT http://community.prostatecanceruk.org/editors/tiny_mce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-laughing.gif
Cheers
Kevin