I read quite a bit after the biopsy and before the biopsy diagnosis of
1 core out of 12 that I either had cancer or not.  I also at that point
didn't like the biopsy that much and the thought of doing them every
six months to a year for a biopsy wasn't pleasant.  I also have a
friend in Indiana that was a urologist that said if it happened to him
that he would go to Mayo where he trained for the RRP and Detroit if he
was to get the robotic RP.  I have a busy schedule with 4 kids and
after reading the the info decided to see Dr. Menon  in early November.

My original biopsy was reviewed by multiple pathologists to make sure
it was cancer and I wanted a second opinion on the slides.  My
urologist friend said that to talk to John Hopkins that they consulted
in this in their pathology department.  I did and they concurred with
the original diagnosis.

By the time I saw Dr. Menon I also read stats that said that watchfull
waiting in Europe is higher and they have a higher cancer mortality in
men.  He concurred that it is best to get rid of the cancer while you
can, while it is small and hopefully contained in the prostate. You
have a better chance for contenance and getting an erection the younger
you are and smaller the cancer is.

As I see it if you get another biopsy in 6 months chances are nothing
much will happen since prostate cancer is slow growing.  On the other
hand, the  PC could start to spread faster and you get end up either
with the PC in the margins or outside of them.  With one core out 12 I
had 1% by volume cancer.  A second biopsy may not have found it again
it.  This wouldn't mean that I didn't have cancer but they didn't find
it.  Then I would be looking at getting biopsies every six months to  a
year for a long time. Sounds expensive and a good deal for the
urologist and radiologist since radiation or a RP would be coming up
anyway.

The day I got my Robotic RP, another gentleman (62) had his out.  He
had gone two years without a PSA and they found a little cancer outside
the margins.  I think his PSA was in the 8 to 10 range.  He was very
depressed about it since he was a family doctor and he really stresses
to his patients the importance of yearly PSAs. He muttered do as I say
not as I do.

Almost every RP ends up either upgrading the tumor or keeping it at the
same stage.  I have not heard of anyone saying there tumor grade was
lowered.

Hopefully my reply answers your question, I pretty much made the
decision to have it out.  The question for me was published results and
recovery times.
Mayo,Hopkins and Menon (and others) publish their results.  This was a
one time decision for me and I tried to make it with the most info that
I could get.

We debate what treatment is best, but I think nearly all of us would say
that any treatment is better than none for a 60-year-old in good health with
your numbers.

If the pathologist is sure that that one core has cancer, you have prostate
cancer.  It might be quite prevalent throughout your prostate in spite of being
found only in that one core.  You are lucky you found it- get rid of it.