Hi,
My father has recently been diagnosed with prostate cancer. I am a bit
shaken. He is 73 yrs old and has a PSA of 11, and a Gleason score of 7.
The doctor said that he cannot undertake brachytherapy as he is too old.
Could anyone recommend alternate treatments? He is scared to undergo
hormone therapy or external radiation therapy due to the side effects.
What natural treatments are there? Any good books? Any personal
experiences, books, treatments most appreciated.
Can someone tell me what books they recommend, including
herbal/homeopathic etc treatments for prostate cancer? Any help
appreciated!
Cheers
Peter
=====================
hi peter - well, you're not going to like what is the best treatments,
but here's the facts as i see them.

since you have said that his doctor can't handle seeds, i'm assuming
that there is something in his health that prevents surgery, so that
rules out those type treatments.

with a psa of 11 and given his age, and gleason score of 7, he has three
options.  the first one, he doesn't have to worry about any side
effects.  just do watchful waiting and let nature takes it's course.
given his age, he has less hormone being produced, but the offset of
that is that gleason score of 7 which is more aggressive than that of 6
and then, again, which way are the numbers that made up the 7.  was it
(4+3) or (3+4)?  that makes a difference.  and if he is having serious
health problems, then chances are he will die WITH prostate cancer, not
FROM prostate cancer.

another option would do one of the types of radiations.  there is a
quite a selection and each have their advantages and disadvantages.  one
has to weigh the fact of do you want to live longer with possibility a
side effect or die younger without those side effects.  there is no
other choices in this option.   remember, not everyone who has radiation
treatments will have side effects.

the final option would be that of HT like lupron shots.  but, this type
of treatment has side effects too.  mood swings, hot flashes - just to
name a few.

bottom line - prostate cancer is a deadly disease and will kill you or
you kill it.  you can not co-exist with it.  and the choices that extend
life have side effects - period.

not what you wanted to hear, but those are the facts.  i did try to
sweeten them some.  

the other fact is that you run a higher risk now because your father has
prostate cancer.   i'm living proof at that one.

my father developed prostate cancer in his 80's and i developed prostate
cancer in my 50's.  

i wish you the best.

~ curtis

knowledge is power - growing old is mandatory - growing wise is optional    
"Many more men die with prostate cancer than of it. Growing old is
invariably fatal. Prostate cancer is only sometimes so."
http://community.webtv.net/PALMER_ENT/doc

Welcome to the newsgroup (NG), Peter.  You have packed quite a bit into a
paragraph, so I'm going to answer it in truncated text.

73 is good.  As you age, the growth of prostate cancer (PCa) cells, when
they finally reveal themselves, grow more slowly.  With the treatments
available to us (I'm guessing you live in the AU or UK, maybe CA or US),
there is a very good liklihood that your father will not die from PCa.

PSA 11 is not bad for a 73-year-old diagnosed (dx'd) with PCa.

More than a third of us were dx'd with a Gleason of 7.  Is it 3+4 or 4+3?

What is his Stage?

There are three therapies that are tried and proven relatively successful
for the treatment of PCa:  Radical Prostatectomy (RRP -- whcih he cannot
handle if he cannot handle brachytherapy (brachy); Brachy (which I am
surprised he cannot handle at 73; and Radiation (RT).

I will not question the good doctor.  If he says your father cannot handle
the first two, then I accept that as a fact.  So, you have radiation.

There are a couple of types of radiation and the side effects are similar
for both.  After my RRP failed, I received RT.  I prepared for it by walking
a couple of miles daily, drinking lots and lots of water, and going to bed
an hour earlier each night.  My side effects (SEs) were very, very minor.

When the RT failed, I received (still receive) hormone therapy (HT),
sometimes called androgen depravation therapy (ADT).  The SEs of that are
also relatively minor (relative to death, that is) and probably of less
concern to a 73-year-old than a 50-year-old.

None.  Go to Google Groups and search on "Martin Howard".  Martin was a very
good example to us all.  Unfortunately, he was an example of what happens
when you try natural treatments in lieu of accepted medical treatment.  In
short, you will find he was diagnosed with a PSA 145, Gleason 9 during
October 2002 and died during December 2003.

Guide to Surviving Prostate Cancer by Dr. Patrick C. Walsh
A Primer on Prostate Cancer by Dr. Stephen B. Strum

<<My father has recently been diagnosed with prostate cancer. I am a bit
shaken....>>

I was diagnosed about four years ago (at 70) with similar stats to your Dad's.
I have been on Lupron (one shot every four months) since then. The disease is
in remission with PSA around one and stable. I have no significant side effects
from the HT. Your Dad should try Lupron and see how it goes. In fact, I cannot
understand why his doctor has not suggested that. The side effects can be
troublesome but not everyone has them. Lupron will likely increase his life
expectancy so that he will die of other causes. Of course, there are no
guarantees and PCA developes diffferently in every patient. I wish him good
luck!

You seem to be getting some inconsistent recommendations.  I will throw
my several cents into the mix, and you can judge for yourself what to
pay attention to.

First let me say that there aren't really any "natural" treatments for
prostate cancer.   There are some aspects of diet which might help some
men avoid prostate cancer in the first place, but few people think they
will help much once it has been diagnosed.  But some of them can't hurt,
and might do some good.   Selenium and Vitamin E is one such
possibility.  There is a new book entitled "What Your Doctor May Not
Tell You about Prostate Cancer" by Glenn. J Bubley, who is
director of genitourinary oncology at Beth Israel in Boston and is on
the Harvard Medical School staff.  It has lots of general information
about prostate cancer and good advice about nutritional approaches.

It is not clear why your father's doctor precluded seeds based on his
age.   Usually seeds are considered a fairly low risk treatment method.
 It would make sense for him to preclude surgery if your father is in
bad health.

Your father shouldn't be overly concerned about radiation therapy.  It
is very effective and there is some chance his cancer could be cured
that way, or, if not, it might extend his life.  The main side effects
are urinary and bowel symptoms, but these are usually temporary,
tolerable and can be dealt with by other measures.  Radiation can also
lead to impotence in a substantial number of men, but that impotence can
usually be treated and in any event doesn't have to lead to an end to
sexual activity.

The real issue is how long your father can reasonably be expected to
live for other reasons.  If it is less than ten years, then he can
choose either watchful waiting followed by hormone therapy should
symptoms develop or he can start hormone therapy immediately.  There is
some difference of opinion among oncologists about which is preferable
and the decision can depend on the details of the case.  If his life
expectancy is over 10 years, he should probably choose radiation, and
try for a cure.  (Radiation is sometimes supplemented by short term
hormone therapy.)

In comparing alternatives, remember that all treatments as well as the
untreated disease have side effects, so it is a question of comparing
the likelihoods of different side effects in each case.   Your father
might also benefit from additional opinions from other doctors, i.e.,
urologists, radiation oncologists, or medical oncologists.

I recommend _A Primer on Prostate Cancer_, subtitled "The Empowered
Patient's
Guide," by Stephen B. Strum, MD, a medical oncologist, and Donna Pogliano.

Also see the website of the Prostate Cancer Research Institute at
http://prostate-cancer.org/index.html

As Leonard Evens writes, there is no known herbal/homeopathic treatment
that will lead to a cure. Though there are plenty of charlatans and
worse who will claim otherwise for their particular nostrum.

Regards,

Steve J
__
"Never give in--never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small,
large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good
sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming
might of the enemy.''
--Sir Winston L. S. Churchill

Gleason 7 and PSA greater than 10 but less than 20 is
generally considered "intermediate risk" - more curable than
"high risk", but more likely to cause death than "low risk".

If your father is otherwise in good health, i.e., he's not dying of
heart disease or some other ailment, then it seems to me that
with his Gleason and PSA numbers, he is at risk of eventually
dying of PCa.  Treatment might prevent that.

One piece of advice that everyone generally gives but which
I don't think anyone has mentioned yet is that he should get a
second medical opinion.

I'm surprised that a doctor thought that he was too old for
brachytherapy since that is a relatively straightforward
treatment with relatively few complications and side effects.
A second doctor might have a different opinion.

   Alan

Peter, all I can say is that my uncle was diagnosed when he was 76 and had an
RRP (surgery) that year.  He is a healthy 84 now, much healthier than I am.
PSA of 11 and Gleason of 7 are not very good- much like mine.    I have been on
Lupron for 18 months and the symptoms are not bad, in my opinion.  Selenium and
vitamin E might, maybe, slow the progression a bit, but nothing is going to
stop it but surgery or radiation.  Of course, it may grow very slowly, so it
can be ignored.  If your father has other problems that make his life
expectancy something around 5 to 10 years, that might be OK.   Best of luck,
enjoy.  

Peter,

I would strongly recommend that you check out
http://www.prostatepointers.org/leibowitz

Basically, Dr. Leibowitz and Dr. Tucker have been using triple
intermittent hormonal blockade since 1991, and have not lost any early
stage patients with primary adenocarcinoma of the prostate to prostate
cancer yet.  In their published paper, their average PSA was over 13, so
 your father's parameters are below their average.  They have new
papers coming out soon following even more patients than were followed
in their original paper, and with the same excellent results.

Ed Friedman

Peter,
Check out http://www.cancertutor.com/index.html for the latest info on
alternative treatments.

Good luck
Twig