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Would you consider offering salvage radiation to a patient with castrate resistant prostate cancer who has never had local therapy and has no evidence of lymph node or distant metastasis?

This is a patient who would have been an appropriate candidate for radiation upfront, but was managed with androgen deprivation therapy instead. On the one hand, I feel that radiation may be the only salvage option, and it's very well tolerated. On the other hand, would I just be giving a patient side effects from treatment without any benefit?
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In the above clinical scenario assuming otherwise good health of the patient, would you offer treatment with radiation, and if so, what dose would you use? (choose all that apply)

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5 Answers
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Radiation Oncology · Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center
Answered on · Updated on

It's hard to give a great answer without knowing more information, such as the PSA, Gleason score, and T-stage at presentation, why he was treated with androgen deprivation alone up front, what AD he was treated with, how long he was under treatment before he became castrate resistant, and what is t...

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Radiation Oncology · Mayo Clinic
Answered on

I have treated patients in this situation several times over the years, and none of them were ever controlled over the long haul. They all appear to fail. Thus, it appears that whatever the changes are that make the prostate cancer hormone insensitive also make it very difficult to cure with RT. Thi...

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Radiation Oncology · Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Answered on

Great points by Dr. @Dr. First Last and Dr. @Dr. First Last. When I've encountered this, I similarly present radiation with a goal of prolonging time off ADT or delaying progression (vs as a cure for men who present without prolonged ADT after post-prostatectomy recurrence).

If you look at the MEDCAR...

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Radiation Oncology · University of New Mexico School of Medicine
Answered on

I have treated this scenario previously, and believe radiation is reasonable as it will likely prolong his freedom from progression. This will not cure the patient, and he will almost certainly progress, but I suspect it will slow that progression. This has to be weighed against the suspected toxici...

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Radiation Oncology · Weatherby Health Care
Answered on

It would be good to know the age of this patient and what other health problems he has.

Assuming the best-case scenario for now, if his lack of lymph node or other mets is based on a negative PSMA PET/CT, and the assumption is that his prostate disease has become resistant to hormone therapy (rising...

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