How to handle prostate cancer recurrence

Cancer cell How to handle prostate cancer recurrence Prostate cancer recurrence is the most common question we receive here at the Prostate Cancer Awareness Project. Unfortunately, there is no simple answer. The chances of your prostate cancer returning depend on your particular prostate cancer and the circumstances of your diagnosis and treatment.   The article below, from the Harvard prostate knowledge center, provides a great deal of insight. I found it personally very helpful. Marc B. Garnick, M.D., discusses what biochemical recurrence means and what your options are “Am I going to die?” This is the first question a patient usually asks me when a follow-up blood test reveals that his prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level has risen after he has already undergone treatment for prostate cancer (usually a radical prostatectomy or radiation therapy). The fear is understandable: When PSA levels rise to a certain threshold after prostate cancer treatment, the patient has suffered what is known technically as a biochemical recurrence, sometimes also referred to as a biochemical relapse or stage D1.5 disease. Whatever term is used, it means that prostate cancer remains within the prostate after radiation therapy, that it survived outside the excised area after radical prostatectomy, or that it […] read more

Will Your Prostate Cancer Recur after Surgery?

Will Your Prostate Cancer Recur after Surgery? by Robert Warren Hess If you have prostate cancer and you have your prostate removed (radical prostatectomy), can your cancer return?  If it does return, are there treatment options available? These are questions men ask when they are faced with making a decision about prostate cancer treatment. Unfortunately, the answer to the first question is “yes” while an affirmative to the second question is (fortunately) a positive sign. If you are faced with making a treatment decision about prostate cancer that involves prostatectomy, it’s a good idea to learn all you can about the procedure and other cancer treatments so you can be prepared to tackle a possible return of your prostate cancer. Chances Prostate Cancer Will Recur Overall, a man who has undergone prostatectomy for localized prostate cancer has a 10 to 30 percent chance of experiencing prostate cancer recurrence during his lifetime. Among these cases of recurrence, about half happen during the first three years after prostatectomy, another 30 percent occur from years 3 to 5 post-prostatectomy, and about 19 percent happen after year 5. Some experts say the figure of recurrence is even higher. Why Prostate Cancer May Return Prostatectomy as […] read more