Has anyone had any experience using German oncologists for a second opinion (hopefully remote)? I can search for "German cancer 2nd opinion" and get 5-10 sites but I don't know which are legit or most modern?
I'm a Yank and I've read Germany and Australia lead the world in prostate cancer treatment and they'd also likely have drugs available that are not in the U.S. yet.
Good Morning, while I don`t know whether Germany is among the leading countries when it comes to PC-treatment, there is a Prof. Weissbach located in Berlin who is a well known specialist for a second opinion. I have consulted him myself and was very happy with his recommendations. weissbach@gesundheitsforschung-fuer-maenner.de
Did he offer any advice or treatment which was different from standard of care ?
No, he recommended to not continue with ADT-shots but instead switch to Orgovyx.
I continued despite his recommendation with quarterly ADT-injections, now 9 shots, PCA undetectable.
THANK YOU!
Where are you currently being treated?
Denver
Grew up in CO. Both parents and one grandparent succumbed to cancer. Don’t blame you for wanting a second opinion. Wish my mother had.
I have moved to NE Ohio (less traffic annd less political) and use Cleveland Clinic and University Hospital. CC does online 2nd opinions. Used to be $750 I think closer to $1200 nowadays. FYI.
There’s also John Hopkins (Maryland), and MD Anderson (Houston) for SoA NA treatments and trials.
clinicbyclevelandclinic.com...
The current cost of the Cleveland Clinic Second Opinion is $1,690 for a written report and $200 more if you wish a tel-conference with a doctor to explain the report to you.
For international patients such as myself, their cost is $4,500. It is a Typical example of trying to capture some of the savings you have from travel and lodging while getting such an opinion in person.
Yeah, I really already understood it costs more to go other places.
Why do you feel the need to go to Europe, etc? Are our Cancer Centers of Excellence in the USA not capable of providing a highly qualified second opinion?
They aren't great here. That's why we are number 1 in health care costs, and 37th for quality of care. India is where I went for APAC vaccines. Here we can't even get them here. They know. I was cured from kidney cancer 29 years ago here with vaccines, which are now called TVAX. Now it's only available for horses. Crazy, but it is what it is.
My research suggests the FDA is VERY slow to approve existing drugs. I believe USA been using Pluvecto for 2 years, Germany for 15. Pluvecto's effective rate is 80% in Europe and US is 10-15%. Why the diff? The FDA has approved it ONLY after chemo. It's possible to cheat the system and take one chemo treatment THEN say "I want Pluvecto" with a willing and clever oncologist, but mostly US proves Pluvecto (as an example) after you're close to death (hence the LOW success rate). Germany uses Pluvecto MUCH earlier in the treatment cycle (in ADT or immediately after ADT fails) FDA just approved NXP800 which has been used in Europe for several years. I believe US patients only get access to these non-FDA drugs if you can fight your way into a study which using has VERY tight criteria.
I am not disagreeing with your statement. But what good does it do if they have a drug no doctor in the US will prescribe because it is not FDA approved other than for trial use.
Confused on what a second opinion would be any advantage.
Because if the second opinion involved drugs unavailable in the U.S. I would go to where the drug is available to every patient who needs them. If I have to sit in Europe for 4 months, there's worse places to be.
Names of Best German Prostate cancer Medical oncologist?
From Opa A and Oma I.
ChatGPT said: <===<<<
Germany is renowned for its advanced medical care, particularly in the field of oncology. Here are some of the leading German medical oncologists specializing in prostate cancer treatment:
german-medicalgroup.com
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Booking Health
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Booking Health
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Prof. Dr. Axel Stang: A prominent specialist in medical oncology, hematology, and internal medicine, Prof. Dr. Stang practices at Asklepios Hospital Barmbek in Hamburg.
Clinics On Call
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Bookimed
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Prof. Dr. Elke Jaeger: With over 35 years of experience, Prof. Dr. Jaeger heads the Oncology and Hematology department at Nordwest Hospital in Frankfurt. She is recognized for her expertise in prostate cancer treatment and has been ranked among the best German oncologists by Focus rating.
Bookimed
Prof. Dr. Thomas Werner Kraus: Serving as a general surgeon at Northwest Clinic in Frankfurt, Prof. Dr. Kraus has extensive experience in visceral organ transplantation and oncological surgery.
Clinics On Call
Prof. Dr. Peter Albers: Leading the Department of Adult and Pediatric Urology at the University Hospital Düsseldorf, Prof. Dr. Albers has over 30 years of experience focusing on prostate cancer diagnostics and treatment.
Bookimed
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Booking Health
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Clinics On Call
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Prof. Dr. Felix Kyoung-Hwan Chun: As Head Physician of the Department of Urology at the University Hospital Frankfurt am Main, Prof. Dr. Chun specializes in prostate cancer treatment, including da Vinci robot-assisted surgery.
Booking Health
Prof. Dr. Andreas Gross: A top German urologist, Prof. Dr. Gross specializes in the treatment of prostate, bladder, renal, and testicular cancer. He employs minimally invasive operations and complex surgical interventions to offer organ-preserving therapies.
Bookimed
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Bookimed
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Prof. Dr. Stephan Dresel: An esteemed nuclear medicine radiologist at Helios Berlin Buch Hospital, Prof. Dr. Dresel is recognized for his expertise in treating prostate cancer using modern technological equipment.
Clinics On Call
Dr. Robert Krempien: A renowned radiation oncologist at Helios Berlin-Buch Hospital, Dr. Krempien has extensive experience in treating complex cases of prostate cancer.
Clinics On Call
Prof. Dr. Arnulf Stenzl: With 52 years of experience, Prof. Dr. Stenzl is a highly regarded prostate cancer clinician in Germany.
MedTourism Worldwide
Dr. Gerhard Siebenhuner: Bringing 47 years of experience, Dr. Siebenhuner is a seasoned prostate cancer specialist in Germany.
MedTourism Worldwide
When considering treatment, it's essential to consult with a specialist to determine the most appropriate approach tailored to your individual needs.
Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.
j-o-h-n
John, I can use ChatGPT. Do you have personal experience with any of these?
Nein.
Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.
j-o-h-n
j-o-h-n My take on " International Cancer - Of all types . " Cancer is a job generator and massive profit generator " It could be eradicated within a year if they established several supee research centeres around the world , and bringing the research brains for each cancer type ( Prostate , Breast , Brain etc ) into these focused center .
A MANHATTAN TYPE , ATOMIC BOMB , PROJECT or PUTTING A MAN ON THE MOON .
We remember the response to President Kennedy " We do not have the technology " -- Kennedy responded : " Find it - Develop it " and the scientists did .
Worldwide cancer research scientists are loners doining their own thing . The protect their research ( pride of authorship ) , write a book or leverage their work to gain tenure at a University Hospital . There is very little coordinated international exposure among scientists to eradicate cancer .
If Bill Gates and a few more Multi Billionaires worldwide , Elon Musk etc. etc . formed these targeted research centeres and brought the top brains tegether -- CANCER COULD BE ERADICCATED . No question in my mind . Trillions of dollars are spent internationally yet we do not have this BULLSEYE RESEARCH FOCUS . It's a pissing contest . " My research is better than yours - No mine is better than yours " and supporting this disagreement are the Pharmacy companies . Any meaningfull curable research treatment is either shelved , slid under the table to protect old treatments and profits or offered at unaffordable prices and taken off the market .
So, this thread is to respond to the question, "Has anyone had any experience using German oncologists...". I suspect your rant means, "I don't have any direct experience in this area".
to BroncoRick,
Sorry my bad, but I erroneously answered your post thinking that my A I post (response) would be somewhat useful to you (and to those that normally do not use A I for information). ....As the saying goes: "The road to hell is paved with good intentions"....
Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.
j-o-h-n
Germany and Australia lead the world in PSMA radiopharmaceuticals, but not in other drugs. Germany has very liberal laws about compassionate use.
Did your PSMA PET/CT show distant spread? What investigational drugs are you interested in?
I don't know what drugs I'm interested in if I don't know about them. My cancer has spread to several lymph nodes up the spine and on the collar bone. I find my prostate cancer to be aggressive as it's a 9 gleason score and PSA doubling was roughly monthly. I'm am responding to resuming ADT as it did drive the PSA back down to likely 0 in a week (down to .18 yesterday) but we know that will fail. I'd like to hit it NOW rather than waiting for ADT to fail.
I'm sorry to hear about the spread. IMO, you are a good candidate for early use of PSMA-targeted radiopharmaceuticals. There are several clinical trials in the US. In the US, my first choice would be Scott Tagawa at Weill Cornell in NYC. He has several trials of Ac 225 (a powerful alpha emitter) attached to a very particular antibody that doesn't have the adverse salivary side effects of other commonly used ligands.
You can get pre-chemo radiopharmaceuticals without a clinical trial in India and Germany.
Thx! That’s helpful! (See what I mean about the availability of drugs though!)
see this:
healthunlocked.com/advanced...
Yup, after two years they moved it up the treatment line, now just ahead of chemo. I'm NOT mCRPC yet so its still unavailable to me in the U.S.. There was a study in Denver checking the effectiveness of doing Pluvicto pre-mCRPC but I was disqualified from it because I started aberiterone 4 days earlier.
Glad FDA moved the line but still YEARS behind Germany in it's use.
Germany follows FDA approvals for their approved drugs, as do most countries. They are very liberal about "compassionate use," however. In the US, you can enroll in clinical trials, and there is compassionate use, but the pharmaceutical mfr has to be willing to provide the drug. Because the US is so litigious, it is hard to get the pharmaceutical mfrs to agree.
BroncoRick : My rant as you call it is felt by millions of others - it is not my original idea .
With respect to GERMAN opinions . I sense you are chasing a silver bullet fix , which does not exist . There are centers of excellence in every country , none really superior to the other
For example if you google the top Urologists in the world -- TURKEY crops up frequently .
For example Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto is ranked in the top five Research & Cancer Treatment Centers of Excellence in the World . So too is the Sunnybrook Hospital where TULSA-PRO was invented byy Dr Paurence who was on the original research team of Dr. Chopra .
I lived in the U.K. , Canada , USA and Australia . If I currently livedd in the USA -- I would look no further than some of the Centeres of Excellence named - UCLA , Johns Hopkins , Mayo Clinic , Cleveland , Mayo etc.etc . People travel from all over the world to the USA for treatment .
I like my German car a lot. But I’ll leave it at that. Not sure I’d ever feel compelled to consult outside the U.S. after reading the literature that many of our treatments are based on. In fact many of the trials that form the basis of our treatments in the U.S. also incorporate results from foreign research and regimens. But I understand the anxiety. This damn disease and the drugs we take make us question everything.
Sounds like you have no direct experience with German 2nd opinions.
Correct. But I agree that second opinions are important. However, unless you’re living in Germany, remote contact is your only option. Most doctors have enough to worry about on their doorstep. Someone “dialing” in from across the ocean might be a reach for them in terms of taking a real interest in a that patient. But if my hopes and local resources were exhausted, I might feel differently.
Get as many opinions as you can and weigh them out as well as alternative therapies. I owe my life to doing this and I stand by it.
Did you do any alternative therapies?
Why don't you contact Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne and ask if there's a urologist who would provide a teleconference. We've been able to access this for a second opinion. They are the leaders in this field. No doubt you'd have to reimburse for the time to look through your history but I'm sure this wouldn't be too excessive. You won't go far wrong with Renu who consults privately and works closely with Declan Murphy and Michael Hofman both well know internationally for their work. You can check out her details at cancerspecialists.com.au/te...
BOOM! Perfect marnieg46! Exactly what I was looking for!
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