Delay wit prostate cancer treatment

Hi

I'm so worried my partner had very high psa in April , but had only just had any symptoms , so couldn’t have known before,that there was a problem.

he was referred to urology nurse in May , and diagnosed with prostate cancer at this meeting, she was a bit unhelpful, and didn’t take any notice of what my partner said 

he was told that he would have the following would be needed before treatment started 

mri

bone scan 

biopsy

flow test 

and Pet Scan -

pet scan in mid August on he started on biclutamide - he had been told not too take before the scan 

The time scale has been dreadfully slow and the pet scan results have only just come on  4/9/24 and show that the cancer has spread to lymph glands so not able to be cured, only controlled for a short time 

previously he had been told that it was confined to the prostate and that area and could be treated 

He and I are extremely worried and devastated about this situation

and wonder if this will make a good outcome impossible 

and so concerned that this delay has meant that treatment won’t be possible and that before he sees oncologist again and chemotherapy starts it will have spread further 

and it’s nearly 5 months ago since initial diagnosis and no progress with treatment 

we don’t know what to do 

devastated 

  • Hi, Icantstandit, and a warm welcome to the forum, though sorry you have to be here and your partner has prostate cancer, Sadly your experience is pretty typical regarding testing timescale, though usually if the cancer is contained they often start you on antiandrogens "bicalutamide", pretty soon and it will stop the cancer spreading immediately and maybe shrink it, the reason not to take bicalutamide before your pet scan is that it can give false results. It may still be possible, as the cancer has only very recently metastasised to the lymph glands, to be cured or stop any further spread for many years. Can I ask what treatment options you were offered, how many lymphs are involved and what are his stats (Gleason, TNM, and PSA. I have advanced prostate cancer, a rare and aggressive variant 2.5 years now with quite a few more to come, this is the hardest time for us all, diagnosis, testing, waiting for results and treatment to start is awful, but it will feel a little better when treatment does start, best wishes.

    Eddie