Chance that it has spread.

Hey Darrald. My Gleason was also 4+3 but my PSA was 15.47 while on finasteride. Finasteride suppresses PSA and had I not been on it, my PSA would have been roughly double. In spite of this an MRI showed no signs of spread and actually did not pick up the cancer I did have. A biopsy found the cancer and a bone scan showed no signs of spread. I was 69 years old. Roughly half of men choose RP and the others radiation at my age and cancer confined to the gland. I selected radiation and 18 months out I have PSA at 0.07 with no side effects. As one of the moderators replied in a different post, get the additional information you need which will lead to treatment options. Educate yourself and make a plan and you will gain control and get on the path to beating this thing. All the best to you!

Hey Mike, I"m 58 and just found out about the cancer about two months ago
and I have been strugging with the tought of having cancer, I did the MRI and scan,
well today I went to see the Doctor to see what is the best tratment for me and he put me on ORGOVYX and two months of radiation, I start the ORGOVYX tomorrow, I hope I beat this.... Oh yea no spread.. but man I didnt know anyone that has had prostate cancer to talk too. Thank you How is the radiation ? are you taking anything else.

Hi Darrald. I had a form of external beam radiation called SBRT. The radiation was only 5 treatments over 10 days. When you have SBRT, a barrier (think a gel product that your body absorbs in about 6 months) called SpaceOAR is placed with an injection between your colon and prostate. The barrier lowers the risk to the colon because the radiation is a higher dose than the older treatment modality that can span 30 to 40 sessions. 3 tiny gold fidicual markers were also placed in my prostate to aid with precise targeting. This procedure was done as an outpatient under general anesthesia. Out of curiosity I asked the surgeon if the procedure could be done with a local anesthetic only. He said the reason he wanted me under was that he wanted me absolutely still. Not even 1 centimeter of movement. I had no drug treatment because the cancer was stage 2, no spread. My treatment was through the Cleveland Clinic. Roughly 5 years ago SBRT was generally considered new or even experimental. At the Clinic, it is now the standard of treatment for men choosing radiation over surgery (both were offered to me and neither doc tried to push his specialty). At the big cancer treatment centers, more treatment choices are available and they are not fishing for patients….the fish are jumping into the boat.
I’m not a doctor and I’m not in a position to 2nd guess the recommendation you’ve been given, but I think you should ask and understand why drug therapy is being prescribed in addition to radiation given that your cancer is contained. You should also ask if treatment options such as SBRT (and there are many others) are available. Keep us posted. You found a great resource here.
I had to smile when you said you wished God would call and tell you which treatment to pick. I’d bet the vast majority of us felt the same way. When I was in your position, I prayed for discernment then educated myself. Someone here wrote that once you’ve done your research, pick the treatment that seems best for you and move forward with confidence. All the best to you, Darrald!