Question for those getting treatment in Canada

[SeaSlug204]

My dad was diagnosed with advanced stage 4b around a month ago. We have seen a Radiation Oncologist who let us know radiation was not on the table right now. We are waiting for an appointment with the Medical Oncologist which seems to be taking some time. My dad is currently two weeks in after his first Eligard injection. For my dad's cancer, he will likely also be on an ADT drug plus chemo for triplet therapy. Everything I've read has said all three should be started at the same time to be as effective as possible, but here we are waiting with just one treatment. If you went through this treatment in Canada, did you start all at once or was there a bit of a wait?

The Radiation Onc also told us that my dad will likely never get a PSMA PET scan again, and that we will be relying only on CT and bone scans from here on. This doesn't make sense to me because none of his mets showed on anything but the PSMA PET scan. If you are in Canada, have you gotten additional PSMA PET scans throughout treatment?

From a concerned daughter, Thank you!

[RyderLake2]

Hello,

In Canada health care varies from province to province. I can only comment on my personal experience in one province. I made the move from a radiation oncologist to a medical oncologist when I added an ARPI (Androgen Receptor Pathway Inhibitor) drug to the ADT drug I had been taking for the previous five years. In my circumstance, the ADT drug was Zoladex (goserelin) and the ARPI drug was Xtandi (enzalutamide). As for PET scans, we only have five or six in my province and the queue to get this scan is five miles long!😀 I did have one PET scan prior to being admitted into a clinical trial offered by the B.C. Cancer Agency Vancouver investigating the use of Lutetium pre-chemotherapy. That was to see if I was PSMA positive. I have not had one since. Plenty of CT scans, nuclear bone scans and a few MRIs. My experience with the Canadian medical system so far has been very positive. Hope that helps!

[Tall_Allen]

The ADT can be started sooner.