Originally Posted by: Online Community Member(1) Since the change of Oncologist it seems they send Dad for a CT scan of only his pelvis and not up to his neck. Should I advocate more for Dad that they need to do the correct CT scan?
(2) Has anyone on this forum gone onto have the second set of chemo rounds? How were they and did they help to keep the cancer at bay for a longer time?
(3) Do we have any other options left after the second set of chemo rounds? My heart is really wanting to have a second opinion as Dad is really upset at thought of chemo again and knowing once again through another defence line treatment wise.
(4) Would it be wise to research on clinical trials given that my Dad's cancer is so aggressive?
(5) Should I push for genetic testing as it seems they could then give Dad Olaparib? There wasn't enough of his original biopsy for the test to be conducted therefore the testing came back inconclusive. Or should I just take my Dad privately for genetic testing?
A lot of questions here and I will leave some to be answered by others but my thoughts are:
1. Why do you think that the pelvic CT is not the correct scan? Whatever their reason for doing the scan, they presumably only needed to see his pelvic area?
2. We have had many men who went on to have a second or third go at Docetaxel and then, when that stopped being effective, Cabazitaxel. We had one member who had ten lots of Docetaxel because it knocked his cancer back each time
3. There may be another treatment option after chemo; for example, if he turns out to be PSMA+ he may be able to have Lu-177
4. It is easy to find the details of all clinical trials that are accepting patients - they are published online. I don't think your dad meets the criteria of any PCa trials that are currently open but it is certainly worth looking
5. You could ask about genetic testing but only around 5% - 10% of prostate cancers are thought to be genetic. Unless dad is an Ashkenazi Jew and / or there is a significant history of prostate cancer, breast cancer, uterine cancer and ovarian cancer in his family, he is unlikely to have a gene fault. Again, there is no harm asking but do it sooner rather than later as there is often a requirement to have counselling before the test and there can be unintended consequences for his descendants if he did test positive. On average, Olaparib extends life by about 3-4 months but side effects can be hard so dad would have to way up quality of life v time left