Prostate cancer: surgery or radio therapy?

[JumboBeef]

Hello all,

A family member (in his 70's and in good general health) has recently been diagnosed with Prostate Cancer. The good news is that following a full body MRI scan, it has been confirmed that it has NOT spread to any other part of his body.

He is being given the choice between surgery or radio therapy to treat it and is undecided which would be the best course of action.

Does anyone have any advise please?

Thanks.

[motco]

JumboBeef said:

Hello all,

A family member (in his 70's and in good general health) has recently been diagnosed with Prostate Cancer. The good news is that following a full body MRI scan, it has been confirmed that it has NOT spread to any other part of his body.

He is being given the choice between surgery or radio therapy to treat it and is undecided which would be the best course of action.

Does anyone have any advise please?

Thanks.

It really needs to be an expert in oncology to answer that one. I assume the tumour grade is such that treatment is thought necessary or they would stick to watch and wait. At the age of seventy plus, a low grade tumour would often be left alone.

[Engineer1]

JumboBeef said:

Hello all,

A family member (in his 70's and in good general health) has recently been diagnosed with Prostate Cancer. The good news is that following a full body MRI scan, it has been confirmed that it has NOT spread to any other part of his body.

He is being given the choice between surgery or radio therapy to treat it and is undecided which would be the best course of action.

Does anyone have any advise please?

Thanks.

Look at the side effects of either and see which ones he can live with.

[Riley Blue]

I'm 64 and in his position. Initially I was going for radiotherapy; a five day a week visit to a hospital 15 miles away for seven and a half weeks. That's preceded by a three-month course of hormone injections which is preceded by a couple of weeks of pills.

The hormone injections can cause mood swings and you might grow moobs. The radiotherapy's side effects can be pretty unpleasant too.

I've talked it over at length with my O/H - she's quite a few years younger than me - and we've come down on the side of surgery, I go in on the 17th of this month. The consequences of surgery are quite severe but we can live with those.

[Jonnas]

A good friend of mine is 9 days in to a 37 day course of Radiotherapy. He is 67 and it is a fairly gruelling 100 mile round trip to addenbrookes each day. I think he is genuinely worried about the side effects of surgery, he is single and hasn't given up yet! He is also still working full time so it's treatment in the morning and back to work for the afternoon. He is in great spirits and his determination to beat it and not let it dominate his life is quite inspiring.

[Riley Blue]

Jonnas said:

He is in great spirits and his determination to beat it and not let it dominate his life is quite inspiring.

That is the most important thing. I haven't let it dominate my life since being diagnosed in December 2012 and it won't after my hospital visit either - I'll still be driving my Riley to Scotland in May, still taking it to the Le Mans Classic in July. I'm planning trips for next year and looking forward to the future just as much as if I didn't have it.

[JumboBeef]

Thanks for the replies: food for thought.

And best wishes/good luck to those who are facing the same issue(s).