Community
29 March, 2023
Prostate cancer in spotlight
A RETIRED Far North sales representative and grandfather initially dismissed his prostate cancer symptoms as just part of getting older.
But when John, who asked for his surname to be withheld, was told he had five years to live after his diagnosis in 2005 it came as a devastating shock.
After visiting his GP about trouble going to the bathroom when he was 62, John was referred to a urology clinic.
His prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test returned an elevated result, and he was referred to a urologist.
John, of Topaz, was subsequently diagnosed with prostate cancer and his urologist gave him an estimated five-year survival.
John, who is now 78, originally managed his prostate cancer with hormone injections to bring his PSA levels down.
However, when his PSA readings started rising in 2015, he was referred to an oncologist at Townville hospital.
“It was my oncologist who thought I would be a good candidate for brachytherapy in combination with radiation therapy,” John said.
“He suggested I opt for this treatment path, and I am very thankful he did,” he said.
LDR-brachytherapy for prostate cancer is a minimally invasive, high precision, targeted treatment option which helps to minimise risk of damage to surrounding healthy cells.
It involves the insertion of permanent radioactive ‘seeds’ directly into the prostate, which give off localised radiation over a number of months to kill cancer cells.
In Australia, while both LDR-brachytherapy and external beam radiation therapy are both approved for use in prostate cancer, the combination therapy is not available on Medicare for higher-risk prostate cancer.
Australian cancer experts are calling for low dose-rate (LDR)-brachytherapy in combination with external beam radiation therapy to be covered on Medicare for men diagnosed with high-risk (locally advanced) prostate cancer.
“After I received LDR-brachytherapy, I had 39 rounds of radiation therapy,” John said.
“It was very quick; I was in and out of the hospital within an hour each day,” he said.
“I am one of the lucky ones. Not only had my cancer not spread outside of my prostate, but because it hadn’t, my treatment was covered by Medicare. I would not have been able to afford it if it was not covered.”
Throughout the rest of the world, LDR-brachytherapy is being used in combination with external beam radiation therapy to treat locally advanced (higher risk) cancer that has begun to spread outside the prostate.
“I was given five-years to live with lower-risk prostate cancer,” John said.
“To think there are blokes out there living with higher-risk prostate cancer not able to access the same treatment I had covered by Medicare is mindblowing.
“My advice is to listen to your body and your doctor. Since my treatment, my PSA readings are the lowest it has ever been, so I’m living proof it works,” John said.
