Perhaps someone who responded to you cross-posted.

(Go Cubs!)

This isn't a Google group; it's a USENET forum, and you're merely
accessing it via Google. And apparently almost ANY internet postings are
subject to showing up when their topic is Googled.

I.P.

Sox,

Your question is about something that confuses a lot of people.

alt.support.cancer.prostate is a "Usenet newsgroup".

"Usenet" is the Internet news network, first created in
experimental form 1979.  It is a non-commercial network of
servers (i.e., computers connected to the Internet) that provide
service to users by accepting their postings, forwarding those
postings to other servers, and allowing users to access the
database of postings via news reader software like Outlook
Express, Thunderbird, and many other programs.

News postings are distributed around the world for free, but
running the servers costs money and so most service providers
either charge to access the database, or restrict access to
people who have joined a particular network, for example,
students at a university or subscribers to an Internet Service
Provider.

However the news distribution is free and there are a number of
companies, including Google and Health Forums, that simply suck
down all the news postings and offer them to everyone via web
browsers.

In some cases, for example with Google, this is a very useful
service because Google keeps an archive of postings back to 1981,
allows it to be searched, and if you post a message via Google,
they forward it to all of the news servers so everyone can see it
whether they use Google or some other service.  They are also
completely free.

I'm not so sure about Health Forums.  If they have some postings
that aren't showing up on Google or elsewhere, that means that
they are copying all of our postings, but not forwarding the
postings that are made through Health Forums.  That would mean
that if you posted a message there, most of us would never see
it.  I don't know if that's true or not, but if it is, I would
stay away from them.

If Health Forums is deceiving people about where these postings
come from, that is another reason not to use them.  I'm sure that
99% or more of all the postings on this group do not come from a
Health Forums user.  If Health Forums disguises that fact, then
they are deceiving people in an attempt to make people believe
that Health Forums is a more important and popular organization
than it is.

alt.support.cancer.prostate in particular, and Usenet in general,
are collaborative efforts.  They are not owned by Google, Health
Forums, or anyone else.

   Alan

There are a number of webpages which mirror (copy) conversations which
occur on newsgroups.
Google, which you are using, is one which does that.
But you don't realize what a newsgroup is, because you don't use a
newsreader.
j