My IMRT Experience

All:

I've been checking in on this group for three months now. When I was
trying to make a decision concerning treatment I had a great interest
in hearing about other fellows' experiences - now I'll share mine.

The Basics:

Age: 53
Pre-treatment PSA: 4.8
Gleason: 3+3 = 6
Staging: T1c
Treatment: IMRT, 80 Gy
3 Month Post-treatment PSA: 0.68


The cancer was detected because my primary care physician decided it
was time I had a PSA test, then another in three months, then another
in three months, then a biopsy......you know the drill. The general
consensus was that there was a good chance that the cancer was
confined to the prostate. After a few weeks of research, and
discussions with an urologist and a radiation oncologist, I selected
IMRT.

The radiation therapy itself lasted eight weeks. I elected to have it
at 7:45 a.m. and was able to make it to work by 8:15 most days. Side
effects during treatment were minimal. I took an over the counter
medication for diarrhea once. After three weeks I developed some
problems with urination, a new experience for me. Hytrin cleared that
up quickly. I did get pretty tired towards the end of it all and took
a couple of Fridays off work and napped on the weekends. I'm still
unsure of what caused the fatigue. I guess it's different for
everyone. In my case I'd say it was a combination of the schedule,
some stress, and maybe because I'd read a number of places that I was
supposed to get tired. I'd say it was a good four weeks after the
treatments ended that my energy level was back to 100 percent.

Now, three months later, the only lingering side effect is occasional
urinary urgency and difficulty getting flow started. This hasn't been
a continual problem. It has happened two or three times for a period
of two or three days during the last 12 weeks. Hytrin (5 mg/day)
seems to keep it under control. I've never been up at night either
during treatment or post-treatment. Additionally, I've noticed a
reduced volume when I ejaculate. To date, that's about it for side
effects. As noted above, my three month PSA test came in at 0.68.
That is about an 85 percent reduction in PSA.

Best to you all -

That's sounds like a very good experience.

The drop in PSA is very good. Radiation doesn't necessarily
kill tumor cells. It damages their DNA to the point that it
becomes impossible for them to divide and multiply. If and
when they do begin the process of cell division, they typically
die during the process. That happens over a relatively long
period of time, so the PSA declines gradually rather than all
at once, as after surgery.

Your side effects sound well controlled. My experience was
that it took about 5-6 months for all the urinary side effects
to clear up.

Good luck.

Alan

Hello, there:

And thanks for writing out your experience for us. Folks who are skittish
about RT can take heart from it. I hope you hit your PSA nadir soon and
stay there for a long time.

All the best,

charlie

--
6/2006 PSA 5.2
DRE suspicious
7/2006 Biopsy
2 of 10 positive
Gleason 7(3+4)
11/2006 LRP
Clear margins
1/2007 PSA < 0.01
3/2007 PSA < 0.01
so far, so good

<pperasso@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:1181753529.880536.178400@g37g2000prf.googlegr oups.com...
> All:
>
> I've been checking in on this group for three months now. When I was
> trying to make a decision concerning treatment I had a great interest
> in hearing about other fellows' experiences - now I'll share mine.
>
> The Basics:
>
> Age: 53
> Pre-treatment PSA: 4.8
> Gleason: 3+3 = 6
> Staging: T1c
> Treatment: IMRT, 80 Gy
> 3 Month Post-treatment PSA: 0.68

Looks like a good start, ppr. When did you start/end IMRT?




--
PSA 16 10/17/2000 @ 46
Biopsy 11/01/2000 G7 (3+4), T2c
RRP 12/15/2000 G7 (3+4), T3cN0M0 Neg margins
PSA <.1 <.1 <.1 .27 .37 .75 PSAD 0.19 years
EBRT 05-07/2002 @ 47
PSA .34 .22 .15 .21 .32 PSAD .056 years
Lupron 07/03 (1 mo) 8/03 and every 4 months there after
PSA .07 .05 .06 .09 .08 .132 .145 PSAD 1.4 years
Casodex added daily 07/06
PSA <0.04, <0.05
Non Illegitimi Carborundum

On Jun 13, 2:24 pm, "Steve Kramer" <skra...@cinci.rr.com> wrote:
> <ppera...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
>
> news:1181753529.880536.178400@g37g2000prf.googlegr oups.com...
>
> > All:
>
> > I've been checking in on this group for three months now. When I was
> > trying to make a decision concerning treatment I had a great interest
> > in hearing about other fellows' experiences - now I'll share mine.
>
> > The Basics:
>
> > Age: 53
> > Pre-treatment PSA: 4.8
> > Gleason: 3+3 = 6
> > Staging: T1c
> > Treatment: IMRT, 80 Gy
> > 3 Month Post-treatment PSA: 0.68
>
> Looks like a good start, ppr. When did you start/end IMRT?
>
1/07-2/07