Looking for a doctor for a second opinion for my 79 year old father who was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer (Gleason 9, PSA 14, 12 core biopsy all came back with cancer). Imaging is happening this week, and we are meeting with his urologist the week after that.
I'm just trying to get prepared for a second opinion. He is in NW Ohio and I'm willing to travel to take him to Ann Arbor, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton/Cincy (and of course Toledo) areas.
Anyone on here from these areas that can stand by their Urologist for a second opinion?
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We were told yesterday that taxotere is our last line of treatment and MO can do nothing else. Will not take that as an answer. Have previously consulted Kuchuk of Emory Univerdity.
However- what is your first recommendation in Southeast for top oncologist please?
Someone seemingly high on the totem pole of new drugs-
Already did a clinical trial-
Persistent low hemoglobin a problem for other trials
What about Jevtana (maybe not with low hemoglobin)? Provenge? Estrogen patches? Xofigo (if no visceral mets).
I like Armstrong at Duke (not quite Southeast though). University of Birmingham, Vanderbilt, and Moffitt have good reputations, but I don't know the MOs there.
Here is the home page for the National Cancer Institute's Designated Cancer Centers program: cancer.gov/research/nci-rol...
I don't personally know the people who work at these places but I do know that the institutions are leading centers of excellence for research and treatment. Doctors at research centers like this are expected to, and are presumably very interested in, keeping up with the latest treatment ideas and running trials on new ones.
Case Western Reserve in Cleveland and Ohio State University in Columbus are both on the list and have the highest rating level that NCI assigns - "Comprehensive Cancer Center".
I agree with other posters that you should expand your search beyond urologists. With Gleason 9 and cancer all over the prostate there's probably some cancer already outside the prostate gland. If so, a radical prostatectomy (surgery to remove the prostate, done by a urologist), is unlikely to cure your Dad, though it might slow down the growth of the cancer and be worth doing - there's a lot of work going on now to find out which men will benefit from surgery even if the cancer has spread. Sometimes treatments combining surgery, radiation and drug therapy are used together in hopes of getting a cure in cases like this. However, even if the treatments fail to cure him there are a lot of treatments, with more being developed all the time, that can keep him alive, possibly for quite a few years.
I wish the best of luck to your father and the family.
I agree completely with Alan. I am in my mid 70s, was diagnosed with pc, Gleason 9, spa 10. I opted for robotic prostatectomy in 2017. Afterwards my pea was .6 which denotes pc still present. I subsequently had 40 radiation treatments, and am now receiving ADT with Lupron for almost 2 years. My cancer specialist says that I will have my last lupron injection this month, followed by occasional scans for Mets. I am informed that my pc could take 8 years to metastasize and another 5 years to kill me. I am very satisfied with the path I have chosen and would do it again. BOBG in Virginia.
Thank you Senior76, I like hearing about cases like yours. I wish you many years of good life. So you were in your early 70s when you had your robotic prostatectomy? My dad is relatively healthy considering he is 79, mentally sharp, not obese, physically active. I'm wondering if they would even consider a prostatectomy for someone his age.
I was 74 when I was diagnosed, not sure of stage but think it was 2, cancer had spread slightly out of my prostate, lymph nodes were clear. My lupron injections cause me to have hot flashes which last about one minute and can occur for me 2 to 4 times a day. I find them easily tolerable. I am a golfer and a swimmer and I do feel some loss of strength but I accept these limitations and feel I am on a good path. If your Dad can maintain a positive attitude it will serve him well. Good luck to him.
The CT and Bone scans both came back as negative regarding the PCa having metastasized. With that being said, the urologist said he would not be surprised if it has microscopically spread based on Gleason 9 and 12/12 of the cores coming back as positive for Adenocarcinoma PCa.
His recommended course of treatment is 8 weeks of IMRT (after 8 weeks of ADT) and 2 years of ADT and 3 month intervals for monitoring PSA levels. ADT would be Bicalutamide and Eligard.
I asked for a PET scan and he said there was no clinical reason to do so.
On Monday we will be travelling to Rogel Cancer Center for a second opinion. We meet separately with a Radiologist Oncologist and a Surgical Oncologist, but both are part of a “multi-disciplinary team” for PCa.
Get the pet scan. For you it is information that helps you understand where the PC is. You need a psa that is detectable to get one. I don’t understand why the doctors don’t push to get them. Must be insurance. It will certainly help them with there diagnoses.
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