Radium 223

[Goldberg]

I just completed radium 223 number two both times I seem to have blood in my urine. Is anyone else on this blog had the same issue. Any response gratefully accepted.

[AlanMeyer]

Hello Goldberg,

I had blood in my urine after brachytherapy + external beam radiation. One thing I read about it is that a surprisingly small amount of blood can make the urine appear quite red. I was told by my radiation oncologist that blood in the urine is common in radiation treatments.

I speculate that you had enough PSMA in the urinary system to attract a lot of radium. Ask your doc about it, but I speculate further that it can be a good sign that a lot of your tumor cells were exposed to the radium 223.

Best of luck with the rest of your treatment.

Alan

[Tall_Allen in reply to AlanMeyer]

Radium 223 isn't attracted to PSMA. It is absorbed by bone (it replaces calcium there),and is is excreted in the feces. Perhaps there was some actively growing cancer in the bone marrow that the radium destroyed. Maybe some of the blood from the bone marrow found its way into the urine?

[AlanMeyer in reply to Tall_Allen]

Yes, of course! Where was my head when I wrote that?

Thanks for the correction.

Alan

[Tall_Allen]

I haven't heard that before, but hopefully it's just a transient side effect. Drink fluids to wash it out.

[tango65]

Blood can not get from the bone marrow to the urine. You need to consult to see what your platelets level is, since the bone marrow may be affected by the Ra 233 and you may be proned to bleeding. You also need to consult to determine why you are having hematuria which could be caused by any lesion from the kidneys to the rest of the urinary tract. It could be as simple as a urinary infection, you white blood cells could have been affected by the Ra treatment and you may be proned to infections.

[Altamonttt]

I have had blood and a lot of clots in my urine. Uro wanted to do a TURP. the blood stopped and I didn’t have the surgery. However it has returned a couple times. I self catheterize and flush my bladder. That seems to work for three weeks. I’m on Jevtana now but blood started before chemo. I did have radiation on my c spine and throracic spine prior to blood incidents.

[diamondrn]

Tomorrow I am going in for the 3rd of 6 Radium 223 (Xofigo) treatments.

So far I haven't noticed any blood in my urine that might be directly related to Xofigo, Goldberg,