I did further investigation and here is what I found:
In the American Horror Story post I recounted the experience of Chuck. Chuck was doing well on ADT but decided to have the Choline 11 Pet Scan. It was determined that Chuck had Oligometastatic PCa with Retroperitoneal Lymph Node involvement. Surgery was deemed to dangerous so he had IMRT. The decision to go with IMRT was probably right...But here is an interesting fact...At the time The Mayo Clinic did not offer Proton Beam but had 2 Proton Beam facilities under construction.
Here is what Dr. Snuffy Myers says: IMRT to the Retroperitoneal Lymph Nodes delivers far more harm than benefit, as it causes very severe damage to the immune system. It seems the levels of CD4 Cells, the T Cells that are key in cancer immunology fall dramatically.
Dr. Myers says that HIV becomes AIDS when CD4 Cells fall below 200. Dr. Myers had patients where IMRT to the Retroperitoneal Lymph Nodes brought the CD4 levels to 50. He also had patients who had Proton Beam to the RLN with no side effects.
Chucks PSA fell to <.1 but the cancer came back super aggressive with a 30 day doubling time and a PSA over 6000.
Is there a connection...draw your own conclusions.
Gus
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gusgold
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Did his CD4 count drop to abnormal levels as Dr Myers was warning?
Perhaps he did not have an actual CD4 count done after his IMRT but knowing his absolute lymphocyte count (included as part of a routine CBC) could give a clue since CD4 cells are lymphocytes. It would be unusual to have a low CD4 count with a normal absolute lymphocyte count and vice versa
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