Looking for any help for a friend who has cancer

Hi,

So very sorry to hear about your friend. A Gleason 10 prostate cancer is the absolute most aggressive type of the disease. Can you tell us what treatments he has had?

If the cancer has become terminal, chances are that just making him comfortable are all that can be done. But there are also many treatments that can possibly ease his pain and extend his life for many years, depending on his current situation.

I'm sure others here will be jumping in with other advice on what you might do to help him as much as possible.

Good luck!
Chuck

Resident of Highland, Indiana just outside of Chicago, IL.
July 2011 local PSA lab reading 6.41 (from 4.1 in 2009). Mayo Clinic PSA Sept. 2011 was 5.7.
Local urologist DRE revealed significant BPH, but no lumps.
PCa Dx Aug. 2011 at age of 61.
Biopsy revealed adenocarcinoma in 3 of 20 cores (one 5%, two 20%). T2C.
Gleason score 3+3=6.
CT of abdomen, bone scan both negative.
DaVinci prostatectomy 11/1/11 at Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN), nerve sparing, age 62.
My surgeon was Dr. Matthew Tollefson, who I highly recommend.
Final pathology shows tumor confined to prostate.
5 lymph nodes, seminal vesicles, extraprostatic soft tissue all negative.
1.0 x 0.6 x 0.6 cm mass involving right posterior inferior,
right posterior apex & left mid posterior prostate.
Right posterior apex margin involved by tumor over a 0.2 cm length, doctor says this is insignificant.
Pathology showed Gleason 3 + 3, pT2c, N0, MX, R1
adenocarcinoma of the prostate.
Prostate 98.3 grams, tumor 2 grams. Prostate size 5.0 x 4.7 x 4.5 cm.
Abdominal drain painlessly removed morning after surgery.
Catheter painlessly out in 7 days. No incontinence, occasional minor dripping. 100% continent after 3 weeks.
Post-op exams 2/13/12, 9/10/12, 9/9/13 PSA <0.1. PSA tests now annual.
Brief, firm erections on occasion, still hoping for more improvement.
PSA '09 4.1, 7/11 5.7
Biopsy 8/11 adeno 3/20 cores (5%, two 20%) T2C G6
CT abdomen, bone scan neg
daVinci 11/1/11 Mayo, nerves spared, age 62
Dr. Matthew Tollefson-great!
Final path: confined to prostate, 5 lymph, s. ves, xprostatic tissue neg
Rt post apex margin + with 0.2 cm length
Prostate 98.3 gr, tumor 2 gr. Prostate 5x4.7x4.5 cm
Cath out 7 days, 0 incont, minor drip
2,9/12, 9/13 PSA <0.1.

I don't know what sort of medical treatment is available in Senegal but if he has access to them the drugs he should look for are drugs that prevent the production and the effects of testosterone. This "hormone therapy" will usually give a man some relief for a while. Or, if he doesn't have access to the drugs he might talk to his doctors about an operation called an orchiectomy (removal of the testes) which has much of the same effect. The operation is not particularly difficult and most surgeons can easily do it, even in the developing world.

We have a few members who have much wider experience with anti-cancer drugs than I do. There may be some other drugs that are less expensive and more widely available that he could use. Hopefully some of the guys who know about such things will offer more information.

Do you think that it's usefull to get him to europ or usa because there are some people that are weeling to make donation for him if it's necessary.
Best regards,

Thank you for this information ... i'm an IT engineer i feel so sorry that i cannot help him and i expected it exists better treatment than what he is having now ...
Tomorrow i will let his family know about this hope ... i will also try to get much information about the conditions to get him to US for treatment.
Thank you so much for your help.

Thank you very much,
i'm in touch with some friends in US in order to have prerequisites for "Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota";
any help is most welcomed to help shorten the process of getting the necessary information (contacts, fees,....).
Warm regards

Rayyan,

It might be easier for people to provide you with information if you made your email address visible. That would allow logged-in members to send you email by clicking the icon under your name that looks like an envelope. To set this up, 1) click on the words "My Profile" at the top of the page, 2) click on "Edit Profile", 3) make sure the email address shown is the one you want people to use, 4) select the "Show my E-Mail address" radio-button is selected in the "Optional Information" section, and 5) click "SUBMIT" at the bottom of the page.

Be sure your friend and the people who are helping him all understand that by seeking state-of-the-art treatment in the US or Europe they will probably not be curing his disease. A Gleason 10 cancer with established metastases cannot be "cured" by any technology available anywhere. What the doctors will seek to do is to give him more time and give him a better quality of life in his remaining time. The time they can give him may be months or years.

Also, if you find you can't get him seen at the Mayo Clinic or at Johns Hopkins or some other center of excellence, you can send him to any good regional cancer center in the US or in Europe and get him much better care than it sounds like he is getting now. If you find that there is some place in the US were he can go, tell us and we can probably recommend a good cancer center that is nearby.

Good luck. Let us know how we can help.

Off topic side discussion moved to a new thread.

www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=35&m=3013057

Post Edited By Moderator (PeterDisAbelard.) : 3/7/2014 8:03:54 AM (GMT-7)