Headed toward IMRT soon, questions?

What type of questions should I ask my oncology urologist and radiation oncology doctors?

ADT? Based on my statistics, Memorial Sloan Kettering salvage radiation therapy nomogram shows that without ADT I have 77%, and with ADT 88% chance of cancer free at 6 years. I have seen a few members receive a 3 month ADT injection prior to IMRT. Exactly what drug do they use and how are the effects of the 3 month injection on me? Do most people tolerate this?

Any information is greatly appreciated!
Nick

Pilot
I've read that ADT is good for high risk PCa , but of dubious help for lower risk PCa. Not sure if Sloan's nomogram breaks it down by risk level. I don't believe that anyone recommends just three months however. It's usually three months befor, during and after RT. Lupron and casodex are both used together. I have found that the estradiol patch has virtually eliminated the sweats which I experienced in my first round of ADT. So I highly recommend them. I use two per week. I will be on ADT for 13 months this time which. Is Dr Dattoli's prescription. Some docs recommend much longer depending on your stage. I've found that ADT is not a problem for me so far whereas before it was awful. Everyone is different. Good luck and use an expert radiation oncologist with the latest technology.
Bob

I don't know pilot. ..All I know is I hope it works out for ya. Why it even came back is weird to me.

Sorry you have to go t have to go through this.

Cure it this time man!!

lapilot said...
...I have seen a few members receive a 3 month ADT injection prior to IMRT. Exactly what drug do they use and how are the effects of the 3 month injection on me? Do most people tolerate this?...

I've been on 45mg of Lupron Depot (six months) for about three months now and start radiation in a couple of weeks.

There are a few threads about Lupron and the various side effects here on HW which you might want to review. Side effects vary among patients, my big two are hunger and hot flashes/sweats. I'm hungry almost 7x24 and sleep is a challenge because of the hot flashes. They wake me up about every hour. During the day I just ignore them and go on with my life.

lapilot said...
I know the hospital has a Varian Trilogy Stereotactic System and a Novalis Tx. Not sure if one is better than the other.

The skill and knowledge of your RO is far more important than the specific machine that will be used. Varian makes a lot of the RT equipment out there and generally has a good reputation.

Andrew