Club Member

[ShinyTop]

Diagnosed in 2014. Have had 3 biopsies and was diagnosed as Gleason 6 with PSA of 4.7 that rose .7 in six months after years at 4.00. Have been on Active Surveillance since. PSA for last two years has been under 1. Only treatment for the cancer has been Proscar. When diagnosed my prostate was 137 mg, at last biopsy 40. 70 years old now. Had TURP in 2015 and the results were great.

[cpcohen]

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. . . PSA for last two years has been under 1. Only treatment for the cancer has been Proscar. . .

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Great results!

I looked up Proscar (generic "finasteride"):

. . . Is it a kind of androgen-deprivation therapy for the prostate cancer ?

. . . If so, what side-effects have you had ?

Thanks --

. Charles

[dentaltwin in reply to cpcohen]

No--finasteride was developed to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia, but there is literature supporting its use to lower PSA:

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/123...

And, besides its use for BPH, it grows hair in men (used as Propecia). Sounds like ShinyTop may be just about the perfect patient for active surveillance--hope the news continues to be good!

[Hidden]

That sounds great. The Proscar seems to really work for you. I presume the TURP was done to relieve symptoms of enlarged prostate, but would also have removed some cancer cells.

I don't quite understand the prostate was 137 milligrams at last biopsy 40, not sure how a biopsy can weigh the gland nor how the weight can be less than a fifth of a gram.

Presumably you haven't had biopsies since the TURP

I admire your positive attitude, you are a good example of what is now called "living WITH cancer".

[Hidden]

Hi, ShinyTop I am glad you are continuing your active surveillance. I wanted too but ended up with 3+4=7 on the high side. One thing to know about Finasteride is that because it lowers your PSA it may prevent adequate diagnosis. A lot of physicians will double the PSA score to get an adequate reading. See, hopkinsmedicine.org/brady-u.... Besides PSA testing every 6 months I would continue to get an annual biopsy or T3MRI to monitor any changes. You might also get a second opinion from John Hopkins on the pathology interpretation $250. I have been on the drug for 22 years and also had a TURP. When my PC was found my PSA was 13.7. Since I had a TURP surgery was not recommended. I am now in my 4th month on Lupron, but I have been advised to continue finasteride as they worry it might affect the PSA which is now at 0.12. One final recommendation is genetic testing. There are relatively cheap tests that are often covered by insurance that can be done from the previous biopsy slides that will provide you with an additional information on your potential future risk level.

[dentaltwin in reply to Hidden]

Thanks for the information--what's great about this forum is that I see answers to questions I don't know enough to ask about in the first place. Your link didn't work for me, but searching JohnsHopkins yielded a lot of pertinent information, including one article that talks about finasteride and the risk of masking high-grade disease.

[Jeff85705]

Glad to hear you are doing well! Best wishes for a long life!