Hi Alan, and welcome, I'm sorry to hear you have prostate cancer, as do I. your staging T3a  tells you your cancer has broken through the capsule "prostate", but has not spread anywhere else, It also suggests your cancer may be aggressive and needs treatment soon, the good news is your cancer can be treated in several ways and with a very good outcome, best wishes. Eddie

Hi Alan,

  a warm welcome.  I too was T3A in May '22.  As Eddie says the tumor has broken through the wall of the prostate but gone no further. I had a CT and a full body x-ray to confirm.

I started my slow release hormone injections in July '22, six in total over 3 years, last one due this January.  I had HDR in December '22, external beam radiation in January and Febuary '23, 25 in total.

I am now on steroids and oral hormone treatment to be sure it does not spread, PSA has been 0.03 for the last 18 months. But the hormone treatment does have side affects, I've another 11 months to go, which I'm not looking forward to.

Good luck with whatever they perscibe.

Justin.

Hello Alan and thanks for posting

I’m sorry to read about your diagnosis and the effect it is having on your mental health.

I'm not sure what steps you've have taken to get some help, but if you haven't, do talk to your GP to ask for their input and let them know how you are feeling. There are a range of mental health services that your GP can refer you to including counselling, so do arrange an appointment so that you can speak to them to ask for their help.

We do have information on our website on getting support for your mental health.

As nurses, we are unable to interpret pathology reports in detail as this is not our area of expertise and we do not have day to day access to clinicians (doctors) to ask them.

However,pT3a means the cancer has broken through the capsule (covering) of the prostate gland. Pnx means that it's not possible to assess or confirm whether the cancer has spread to nearby lymph nodes. This doesn't mean it has spread there, it just means there's no information from this test to say one way or the other. 

Your specialist team should be able to explain this in more detail, and place this in context for you. If you have a prostate specialist nurse (CNS) involved in your care then perhaps they can provide you with further information. You often have to call and leave them a message and they will get back to you.  

I hope that you get to find out more soon, Give us a ring if you would like to talk anything over. The number to call is Freephone 0808 800 4040 and the lines are open from 9am till 5pm Monday to Friday.

Kind regards,

Celene