IMRT feedback

[Lesion13]

Curious about this treatment option. Appreciate your comments/experiences about this radiation approach.

[Tall_Allen]

Are you asking about as primary therapy or salvage?

[Lesion13 in reply to Tall_Allen]

TAllen, Ahead of myself right now. Urologist scheduling bone scan... then meet to discuss treatment options (which I am reading about online). If my cancer hasn’t migrated I’m thinking surgery or IMRT. I am not a doctor but I watch TV.

[Tall_Allen in reply to Lesion13]

Yes. You are way ahead of yourself. There are many more options than you will see on TV

[larry_dammit]

If you want a opinion,after the scans talk to a oncologist,some times the urologist hang on to long. Mine did. To late for the removal if the cancer has left the prostate

[Break60]

Well if you decide upon radiation I can only comment on it as salvage therapy since I opted for surgery as initial treatment. And I’m talking about Intensity modulated Radiation therapy (IMRT) which is external beam therapy. There are other types which your radiation oncologist can explain to you.

I believe radiation is likely to have less side effects as primary therapy because the prostate is still in place to shield the bladder. It’s a painless therapy but time consuming as weeks of visits at about 15 minutes each are required . Late in the process fatigue starts to set in and you may have GI tract irregularities. But all side effects are usually gone a couple months later.

Salvage therapy can have more side effects because the adjacent organs are more exposed when the prostate is absent.

The key is to choose someone with loads of experience treating prostate cancer.

Bob

[Hidden]

Visit with a Radiation Oncologist. After Brachytherapy, I had 25 sessions of IMRT as an initial treatment. My Gastroenterologist remarked that I had very little scarring. I understand that most today do not do like my RO and use a water balloon catheter to lock everything in place each time. My guy was a researcher and professor who helped to develop the process. At the time, I believe that there were a total of three machines in the US at the time in 2003.

Gourd Dancer

[Canoehead]

I have finished 35 sessions of IMRT, with 8 more to go. I am stage 4, oligometastatic, and after a good response to early docetaxel, we decided to use local therapy in addition to ADT to go for a durable remission/possible cure/just kill more cancer cells. 28 sessions hit the whole pelvic area and the last 15 are what they call a boost, aimed just at the prostate.

It has been less fun than I imagined. First of all I stress about my bladder being full enough and my bowel empty enough for the sessions. Diarrhea is constant, and taking Imodium just adds periods of constipation between the bouts of diarrhea. I have resorted to eating only once per day to reduce the frequency of the diarrhea, and this has allowed me to keep working.

Urination is more frequent and urges are strong and sudden. They tell me these side effects should resolve in 30-60 days.

On the bright side, I have had no skin burns, and I am usually in and out in 20 minutes.

You should also be aware that my insurance, BCBS, is denying payment, claiming the treatment is not medically necessary. Luckily my doctors are fighting this for me.

Good luck and good health.

[G9doingfine in reply to Canoehead]

Amazing how many insurance quacks denied my various procedures and scans . Pathetic . I maxed out credit cards to get an axumin scan that showed spread and changed my entire salvage therapy from only adt to radiation and adt . Insurance companies are leaches and only care about propping up the share price of their companies . Pathetic

[G9doingfine in reply to G9doingfine]

I should have said the axumin scan confirmed only “local spread “ which changed my treatment plan .

[MC1976]

I had 35 external beam radiation treatments using IMRT two years after surgery. PSA had increased from 0 .064 to 0.889 which prompted the radiation treatment. CT scan to locate organs and a body bag impression preceded treatment. Each treatment consisted of 9 stops around the body. My body impression in the bag assured proper positioning. A total of 6500 centigray. My organs were protected by the lead shields of the IMRT system and I never had a problem of any kind except stiffness in my right hip. Stretching resolved that. You most likely know the procedure but I can attest that IMRT worked for me without side effects. PSA was 0.077 a year after the radiation treatment.

[AlanLawrenson]

Another alternative is to have proton beam therapy. There are 25 centres in the USA, with some insurance companies covering the more expensive treatment. I spent 11 weeks in South Korea in 2013 have PBT. No peripheral damage other than a very small rectal wall burn, that wasn't a significant issue. My journey with PCa was fully covered in my book available from Amazon. I am presently researching a new 3rd edition due out in January 19.

[chhs1976]

Ebrt is for salvage or Gleason 6 cancer.