Hello all, my name is Dave. I've just updated my profile with all medical info on my case. Hate that I need to be in this particular club, but glad there's such a great resource to learn from in the form of this forum.
I'm stage IVB (cT3b, cN1, cM1b, PSA: 3.8, Grade Group: 4) - no hint of cancer until this diagnosis after a TURP in August.
The ONLY treatment I've had to date for the PCa is an ELIGARD injection, no Casodex or Xtandi, etc. yet.
I've already met with an MO and an RO, but both are waiting for a pelvic bone biopsy before finalizing plans, but the RO's propose treatment is in my profile.
My urologist said this was still treatable but needed to be dealt with quickly.
My MO said that between what treatments she'll give me and the RO will give me, that they could probably ALMOST cure me. LOL. Almost cure...I know that Stage 4 is a life sentence in at least terms of having to monitor for recurrence or return for the rest of my life.
My RO was less optimistic sounding, only saying that if we followed her fairly aggressive treatment plans with radiation that recent studies suggest a few extra years extension of life. RO is a City of Hope doctor.
None of the doctors have given any longevity numbers but all the tools I see, and most Google searches suggest just a 60% chance of making it past 5 years. I'm taking that with a grain of salt because I know that many new treatments are coming, and I've seen many posts from people here saying they're well past that old standard of 5 years best outcome. But I've also seen some sad posts lately of people losing their battle just around 5 year mark.
A couple of questions in this particular post about the actual Stage numbers:
I know T3b means local spread to just the seminal vesicles, but I had cancer cells spreading into the bladder neck...is the bladder neck considered part of the prostate? I understand it to be muscles, which would suggest my cancer is actually T4...or does it have to be an actual organ to be T4?
Other than that, that staging seems like it could only be a worse level if the M1b was an M1c.
I've got other questions that I'll post as separate threads to make them easier to follow and find for other newcomers with similar questions.