My DX just over a year ago was not a shock because of the lower risk that it seemed to indicate. Now, with my brother recently having similar results (with only 6 needles) it has brought me to ask this question; Does his case now put me in a higher risk category?

He said that when he told his doc about me the response was, "then you need treatment for sure." We are both G6 and my PSA is higher than his. Looks like he is going to have brachytherapy next month. Also, my mother has a nephew with advanced PCa.

Right now, I am not changing my plan- staying active with the surveillance.

Thanks,

dp

I guess my brother's doc disagrees with you. I suggested a second opinion. I guess he's not going to do it.

As you can see in Table 1 (for a Swedish population), having 1 brother diagnosed with low risk PC increases your probability of being diagnosed with high risk PC by age 65 from 1.4% to 2.4%. So, yes, your risk of high-risk PC is increased by his diagnosis, but it is still very low.

Family History and Probability of Prostate Cancer, Differentiated by Risk Category

I've never seen an AS program anywhere that would recommend treatment to an AS patient just based on familial risk. More important than your familial risk is your Prolaris score - but that only suggests (to me) that you might want to monitor your cancer more rigorously, using annual biopsies, and perhaps an occasional template mapping biopsy.

No one in my family on either side ever had prostate cancer. But that didn't stop me from roaring in with G8. Just call me Lucky.

Thanks Paxton...and in your case your doctor said that even in light of your G7 core! Although I'm a big proponent of AS, I likely also would have chosen active treatment with a G7.

That said, I still wonder what percent of uros recommend AS to a G6 with a small # of cores? I have no idea, but based on the anecdotal evidence here, I would guess it's less than 50%.