Excellent FREE Online Cancer Guidelines

[JRPnSD]

I recently attended a support group for the type of cancer I am dealing with (prostate) and a team of Doctors from UCSD offered a link to free online PDF versions of individual resource guides for a myriad of different cancers offered by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. It can be found at this site: nccn.org/patients/guideline...

Had any of my doctors pointed me to this resource, I would have been much better informed of my options for treatment and their survival rates, and I would have been empowered to ask the questions that would have helped me make the best decision on what course of action to take. In my case, it would have given me information on a path with a 97% chance of a 5-year survival rate vs my present path of 42%. Please don't let the lack of information allow you to fall prey to the "business as usual" of the corporate medical establishment. Please pass the word to your doctors, support groups, etc. Information is power.

[6357axbz]

Thanks for posting

[JLS1]

Thank you!

[tallguy2]

Thanks for posting. I keep these guides with me at every appointment...every one! I posted on them a year or two ago. So many new guys here....it bears repeating every 6 months.

But we must keep the guide current...read below.

I wish I had downloaded the NCCN 2019 guide last summer instead of relying on the 2018 guide. There is a major difference in the recommended use for Provenge. The 2019 guide says Provenge should only be used if mets are in the bones, NOT in soft tissue, lymph nodes, or visceral organs. The 2018 guide made no such distinction. I may have wasted time and money having Provenge treatments Sept-Oct 2019. I should have listened to my MO, who said Provenge wasn't right for me. Instead I listened to my urologist. Ugh, this is a very complicated, constantly changing treatment environment.

[JPnSD]

TallGuy...thanks...wish I had discovered this 6 months ago...had surgery 5 months ago and now learn for my situation a better course was ADT/Radiation route with a 97% survival rate vs. my present scenario with at 42% survival rate. Why my doctors never told me about this is infuriating. It is only my life on the line!!!