March 12
Last summer's biopsy indicated that the volume of cancer in my prostate was high. Because of that, reasonably prompt treatment was necessary and the treatment options were limited. If you ask me if I made the right choice between the radiation and the surgery, I would say it's a "qualified yes". I chose to have a radical prostatectomy. Now I'm on hormone therapy. I felt good a couple of weeks after the surgery and still feel good three months later. Given that the pre-surgery CT scan and bone scan showed no cancer outside the prostate, could I have known any sooner that the cancer had spread beyond the prostate had I not selected surgery?
"A study published last year in The Journal of Clinical Oncology tracked the treatment of 11,892 men given a prostate cancer diagnosis. About half the men opted for surgery. Among the remaining men, 14 percent were given hormone therapy; 13 percent were given radioactive seed implants; 12 percent had external-beam radiation; 5 percent had cryoablation, which destroys prostate tissue through freezing; and about 7 percent selected active surveillance, in which the cancer is closely monitored for changes, but no treatment is given."
Parker-Pope, Tara. "Hospitals with Robots Do More Prostate Surgery." New York Times 11 03 2011: Web. 13 Mar 2011. <http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/11/hospitals-with-robots-do-more-prostate-cancer-surgery/>.
Go to http://www.prostate-cancer.com/ for the full interactive chart
Video:
Prostate Cancer: A Conversation About PSA Screening, Active Surveillance, and Treatment Options
Prostate Cancer: A Conversation About PSA Screening, Active Surveillance, and Treatment Options
Contact: hdstimson @ shaw.ca
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