Tip for men with PC: if you just get surgery and your PSA is high after that surgery, don't put off followup treatment (radiation usually). My brother did that and its now metastatic in his bones. 5 year survival rate for that in US is 30%.
The challenge of finding new tools to fight prostate cancer
11–19 of 19 posts
Re: The challenge of finding new tools to fight prostate cancer
#12It has one of the highest early-stage survival rates of any cancer, I guess it does if one has usable health insurance. The scores of millions of Americans who don't - I guess they make up a lot of that death rate.
I wish I was joking, but those folks often don't make it into the "early-stage" cohort because they don't get the simple routine healthcare that would allow for early detection/diagnosis
Re: The challenge of finding new tools to fight prostate cancer
#13I've been having mild to discomforting prostate issues for the last 5 years, if anyone has advice, I'm listening.
Doctor still won't prerscribe medication since I'm young, only taking natural supplements, which do work when I'm not stressed.
Re: The challenge of finding new tools to fight prostate cancer
#14I've been having mild to discomforting prostate issues for the last 5 years, if anyone has advice, I'm listening. Doctor still won't prerscribe medication since I'm young, only taking natural supplements, which do work when I'm not stressed.
You might want to figure out why they won’t give them to you (because you’re young seems odd to me), but you can buy all sorts of medications direct from India.
Re: The challenge of finding new tools to fight prostate cancer
#15I've been having mild to discomforting prostate issues for the last 5 years, if anyone has advice, I'm listening. Doctor still won't prerscribe medication since I'm young, only taking natural supplements, which do work when I'm not stressed.
I hope your doctor has ordered a PSA test.
Re: The challenge of finding new tools to fight prostate cancer
#16"Where the prostate is located in the pelvis and close to organs important for sexual, urinary, and bowel function—mucking around there can impact the quality of life. They can lose sexual function. We definitely want to be really careful in terms of not over-treating cancers.”
It's unfortunate that proton radiation treatment was not mentioned in this interesting article. I personally know four men who were fortunate to have proton treatment, with no side effects (after the end of treatment). (search Bragg Peak)
If my insurance would cover the 50k USD price, proton treatment would be my choice (recently diagnosed with "very low risk" prostate cancer). Instead, I'll wait 3+ years for Medicare to cover it, and hope they continue to cover it.
Re: The challenge of finding new tools to fight prostate cancer
#17Other commenters have mentioned better diagnostics / better imaging / other monitoring tools. I've always wondered why not increase the frequency of PSA testing to provide a time series and reduce noise, instead of examining single PSA results in isolation? I think the normal recommended frequency 2-3 years. A PSA test is noninvasive and very cheap compared to other screening methods, so why not repeat it every 3-6 months or even monthly when there's an elevated PSA level?
Re: The challenge of finding new tools to fight prostate cancer
#18I've been having mild to discomforting prostate issues for the last 5 years, if anyone has advice, I'm listening. Doctor still won't prerscribe medication since I'm young, only taking natural supplements, which do work when I'm not stressed.
Get a PSA test, and if it's elevated, get another one in a few months. If you're young you probably do not have BPH but your Dr should know to rule that out.
Re: The challenge of finding new tools to fight prostate cancer
#19It has one of the highest early-stage survival rates of any cancer, I guess it does if one has usable health insurance. The scores of millions of Americans who don't - I guess they make up a lot of that death rate.
I wish I was joking, but those folks often don't make it into the "early-stage" cohort because they don't get the simple routine healthcare that would allow for early detection/diagnosis
This tends to be a true thing when it's a choice between healthcare or a place to live.