Radiotherapy side effects
Posted , 10 users are following.
I have prostrate cancer which is contained in the prostrate. My PSA has reduced from 6 to 0.2 over six months of hormone treatment. I am trying to decide whether to have radiotherapy but my first thought is not to, due to the potential side effects. I have had advice and opinion 'till it's coming out of my ears, but none of the advisers have actually had the treatment. Is there anyone out there who can give an honest opinion based on experience?
0 likes, 28 replies
andrew68876 barry65984
Posted
Barry, what was the reason why you didn't get ur prostate removed??? My doctor is scheduled to remove mine next month...
norma72045 andrew68876
Posted
andrew68876 norma72045
Posted
Norma , I'm 47 my Gleason is 8. My doctor advised me to get it removed instead of chemo and radiation
norma72045 andrew68876
Posted
Andrew,I believe you've probably made the right desicion .
Just believe in yourself,your still young.
I hope all works out well for you. Good luck.
andrew68876 norma72045
Posted
barney34567 andrew68876
Posted
did ou have a PET scan?
ken47739 barry65984
Posted
Surgery in Dec 2010 PSA dropped to less than 1 then started to build to 2.5. 39 session s of radiotherpy followed in 2011 with 2 years of hormone therapy.
I was lucky to be able to use the Trubeam machine, in 2011 there was only one in the UK, may well be more of them now. The radiotherapy had very little side effects apart from tiredness.
The major side effects were from the hormone therapy.
But don't forget the major object here is tto eliminate the cancer.
Hope this helps
barry65984 ken47739
Posted
david41094 barry65984
Posted
I finished my 37 fractions of IMRT in Feb 16, with adjutant hormone therapy and I have had very few side effects. Some tiredness during treatment, a possible drop in libido but nothing drastic and a certain "looseness" in the bowel department which has not caused me any embarrassment, nor have I had any accidents. All in all, I am glad I went with this course of treatment rather than surgery. I am 57 and had PSA of 9.9, G4+3 confined (just!) to the prostate. Hope this helps.
barry65984 david41094
Posted
david41094 barry65984
Posted
I wish you well. I didn't miss a day's work (I arranged for the sessions to be late in the day) and I am now back to full strength. I fear my outcome would have been worse if I had opted for surgery. People always say that the advantage of surgery is that you can have RT if it returns; while this is true in theory, having the prostate bed irradiated with no prostate to absorb the X-rays is not a great deal of fun.
andrew68876 david41094
Posted
david41094 andrew68876
Posted
1) Probability of recurrence
2) Incontinence - both urinary and rectal
3) Effects on libido
My choice was also influenced by the fact that there was very little PCa in my prostate but what was there was close to the edge so I thought RT was more likely to catch any rogue cells that might have escaped.
So far, I am very pleased with my outcome.
All the best