zeebster (imported) wrote: Mon Sep 09, 2019 9:38 pm That is the really sad part of what goes on now vs. how PC was handled in the past. It's a difficult decision for a man to accept surgical castration when offered the "same result" with medications. The sad part is that surgical castration is much more effective, fewer side effects and MUCH less money than the drugs. Particularly the newer ones that cost thousands of dollars per month.

Chemical castration from the medical standpoint of curbing PC, is nothing more than a money making program bankrupting patients with false hopes of regaining their "masculinity" while the medical profession particularly the drug companies, make a ton of money pushing this option.

That was a good choice and it sounds like it's turning into a good outcome. No doubt there will be some chemo followup but should create a full recovery I would think.

In 2011 I was diagnosed with stage 4 sinus cancer. Even after surgically removing the cancer they required a certain amount of chemo and radiation to kill what they could not find. Now 8 years later each of my PET scans indicate no cancer found in my body. I know sinus cancer cannot be equated with Prostate cancer but for the most part the treatment is the same. Surgery followed by some chemical treatment. Our medical industry just cannot seem to transition away from enriching the pharmaceutical companies which are basically a dozen families raping the public for every dime they can get. I wish him the best to come.

Cseriess (imported) wrote: Tue Sep 10, 2019 7:29 am When she told me about her husband. She basically said the conversation was biased toward chemical. She asked how long he would be on them and how much they would cost. She said the answer was indefinitely and probably not too much with their current insurance. The surgical was 100% covered by their insurance. She said he was already feeling sick from the chemo, so they chose surgical and it was done that week. He has had the hot flashes, but nothing too bad, and is doing well.

My castration was primarily for this same reason, to eliminate testosterone to stave off a recurrence. With my situation, all that's left for me is a lifetime of eliminated testosterone, if the prostate cancer recurred. While the trend of my PSA wasn't solidly indicating recurrence, a doctor would have argued if it was necessary or not, but I chose to do it because I wanted to get ahead of it. And a lifetime of Lupron shots would be about $3000 every 4 months for years. Surgery, $3500 one time, and done. Of course the docs, the pharma companies want to maintain a lifetime of injections!

For the husband you mentioned, you might suggest they check into supplemental estrogen. The patches are easy to tolerate, easy to use, and not very expensive. Since my castration left me with essentially zero testosterone, the estrogen patches have eliminated my hot flashes, fatigue, and even "brain fog". I'm having a check next week to make sure my bone density is ok. Estrogen after castration can effectively control the main symptoms.

She is pretty much on top of things, but I will let her know. Thanks.

Varys2013 (imported) wrote: Wed Sep 11, 2019 10:49 am My castration was primarily for this same reason, to eliminate testosterone to stave off a recurrence. With my situation, all that's left for me is a lifetime of eliminated testosterone, if the prostate cancer recurred. While the trend of my PSA wasn't solidly indicating recurrence, a doctor would have argued if it was necessary or not, but I chose to do it because I wanted to get ahead of it. And a lifetime of Lupron shots would be about $3000 every 4 months for years. Surgery, $3500 one time, and done. Of course the docs, the pharma companies want to maintain a lifetime of injections!

I was under the impression that a proportion of a man's testosterone came from the adrenal glands, so removing the testicles alone will not 'eliminate' testosterone although it will reduce it to a fraction. Is this enough to entirely prevent prostate cancer or a recurrence, especially if done to check a cancer that has already been diagnosed?

HumanFly (imported) wrote: Thu Sep 12, 2019 10:21 am I was under the impression that a proportion of a man's testosterone came from the adrenal glands, so removing the testicles alone will not 'eliminate' testosterone although it will reduce it to a fraction. Is this enough to entirely prevent prostate cancer or a recurrence, especially if done to check a cancer that has already been diagnosed?

There is a very small amount made by the adrenals (normal T level is like 300-800 ng/dL, "castrate level" is less than 50, mine was just measured at 7). It's arguable how much that trace of testosterone matters, but some do add bicalutamide to block the effects of even that small amount. There are 2nd-generation hormonals that even more aggressively stop/block adrenal testosterone (Xtandi, Zytiga). One of them (Zytiga) requires taking prednisone with it, since it pretty much shuts down the adrenals entirely (at least that's my understanding).

The cancer cells "figure out" how to get by on mere whiffs of testosterone, and even can develop the ability to live without any bloodstream testosterone at all. Hormonal suppression does not work forever.

I have been wondering, what are the risk factors for prostate cancer? Looking it up online hasn't been very useful. At first I thought that anal sex was a risk factor, but then I found out a bunch of straight men who have prostate cancer

There are a lot of them, from having relatives who had it to diet and weight. Here's a rundown:

https://www.cancer.net/cancer-types/pro ... prevention

https://www.pcf.org/patient-resources/f ... k-factors/

I can't speak about other men on this post, but for myself, to prevent my prostate cancer from spreading after the first round of radiation treatment, I am considering surgical castration.

I’ve been a eunuch for ten years. I have my blood tested every six months to monitor my PSA. Over the years, as my score has been gradually increasing, my urologist has continually reduced my testosterone dosage to better control it to now, where my dose in almost nil.

Jkofclubs (imported) wrote: Wed Mar 01, 2023 8:02 am I can't speak about other men on this post, but for myself, to prevent my prostate cancer from spreading after the first round of radiation treatment, I am considering surgical castration.

I am in a similar position.