At least 5 years?
Came across this on the Cleveland clinic site: Almost all men — 97% to 98% — diagnosed with localized cancer that hasn’t spread outside of the prostate live at least five years after diagnosis.
What is the logic behind this statement? Do people drop dead after the approximate 5 year period if its localized? Can someone explain this to me, sounds ridiculous. thank you, Patrick
And another question- I am trying to find centers of excellence for a biopsy and the best type for my situation, but running into brick walls with the hospitals, John Hopkins takes my insurance but is a customer service nightmare, transferred to 7 different people, they want a consultation but i need answers prior to consultation, otherwise I would be paying $5000 for every Dr I consulted with and they might not have the services. Cleveland clinic doesn't accept my insurance. I guess I ll call Mayo, I think they have patient care coordinators, someone that can work with out of state patients, provide information on procedures, new options, recommendations, 2nd opinions etc....Any thoughts on where I can get a MRI guided Biopsy? I assume this is what I need to address the specific lesion, TIA
Patrick
The modern medical complex is called a complex for a reason. I have been quite successful with Hartford Hospital in CT and YES they offer MRI Guided - HH is in partnership with Memorial Sloan Kettering in NYC for urology. This hospital group uses Nurse Navigators to help patients get through the maze. I would start with the office of patient advocate at the hospital and ask for guidance. Some hospitals have a patient ombudsman (patient care coordinators) - same idea just a different name . Key is to uncover the lingo used to get you the info needed thank you Dennis.
Try Dana-Farber or MGH in Boston. Dana-Farber looks to be rated higher than Johns Hopkins and Cleveland for cancer patients
ok I will check those. Thank you Alan.
No folks do not drop after 5 years - It is simply a measure of overall success in a given time period. I was diagnosed in 2013 and still here after treatment. 😀 Some of the newer treatments have not been around that long so statistics cannot offer a 10 or 20 year rating.
Surgery has for many years been the so called gold standard ditto with external beam radiation and even both of those protocols have seen new developments. Key is catch it early and make your decisions on the best course of action ... Dennis (ProstateCancer.net TEAM)Thanks Dennis, I'm trying to get the biopsy going. I feel like every day that goes by is an opportunity to take action, but some Drs are out of office and I'm trying to determine where I will go out of state and what type of biopsy I need. Someone here said all they do is the TRUS. I want the best that will give me the best shot at recovery. A prostate biopsy is likely to be either transrectal or transperineal. For both procedures, a long, hollow needle is used to remove tissue from the prostate. The difference is where the needle is inserted.
Transrectal biopsy (the most common type of prostate biopsy), through the wall of the rectum
Transperineal biopsy, through the skin located between the scrotum and anus. The latter is potentially less likely to cause infection as it does not penetrate the anal wall
You may want to ask which your MD offers.
Just to be clear ...you mentioned recovery. The biopsy will not cure cancer if it is present The biopsy will reveal the aggressiveness of the cancer if it is present - depending on outcome you might be placed on active surveillance, or be offered some form of treatment.
I had the transrectal and will say recovery was not an issue and was able to travel easily the same day Good luckI guess what I meant was the best biopsy to allow me to determine the best course forward. I heard with the TRUS that they jab the prostate 12 times (cores), as opposed to a targeted jab into the suspicious area. Someone here said in this state all they do is the 12 core jab, that is all the medical institutions perform the 12 spot biopsy.
