canasia.org

    How come celebrities (Dole, Milken, Korda, Arnold Palmer)     have radical surgery for prostate cancer when the current     evidence is that its survival rate is no better than any     other treatment including watch-and wait? It makes the     common man feel they may be getting something special that     he doesn't know about. Perhaps what we don't know about     is the celebrities who do NOT have surgery?            KMC

    evidence is that its survival rate is no better than any     other treatment including watch-and wait? Please, please, please do not forget that what one should do depends greatly on the agressiveness of the discovered prostate cancer. If one has a very agressive, i.e. high Gleason score cancer, there is probably a very good chance that the cancer will penetrate the capsule and _meta_stisize in the not-too-distant future.  Would you want that to happen to you, and perhaps ultimately die from _meta_stisized bone, or some other organ, cancer?  It does not sound very pleasant to me.

   How come celebrities (Dole, Milken, Korda, Arnold Palmer)    have radical surgery for prostate cancer when the current    evidence is that its survival rate is no better than any    other treatment including watch-and wait? It makes the    common man feel they may be getting something special that    he doesn't know about. Perhaps what we don't know about    is the celebrities who do NOT have surgery?       KMC    Jim Valvano, a local basketball coach, died of cancer in the spine several years ago.  Whether it started in the prostate was speculated locally.  Anyway, there is an award for 'courage' given in his name now.      I suspect strongly that people who get surgery are told they are expressing 'courage' in 'going for the cure,' and that any other treatment is wimping out or accepting second best.  It is a cultural thing:  I heard the word courage mentioned in reports about Palmer.  People who get seed implants and are back on their feet the same day probably have no 'suffered' enough to go to the newspapers to get the 'courage' label.

+when the current +     evidence is that its survival rate is no better than any +     other treatment including watch-and wait? + +Please, please, please do not forget that what one should do depends +greatly on the agressiveness of the discovered prostate cancer. + +If one has a very agressive, i.e. high Gleason score cancer, there is +probably a very good chance that the cancer will penetrate the capsule +and _meta_stisize in the not-too-distant future.  Would you want that to +happen to you, and perhaps ultimately die from _meta_stisized bone, or +some other organ, cancer?  It does not sound very pleasant to me.    If this has happened, then surgery is a waste of time and radiation, which covers the general area, should be the treatment of choice, if we appy your logic.

   How come celebrities (Dole, Milken, Korda, Arnold Palmer)    have radical surgery for prostate cancer when the current    evidence is that its survival rate is no better than any    other treatment including watch-and wait? It makes the    common man feel they may be getting something special that    he doesn't know about. Perhaps what we don't know about    is the celebrities who do NOT have surgery?       KMC Kenneth, Andy Grove had a full article published last year. Does the CEO of Intel qualifies as a celebrity? He did not have a RP as treatment. Is Merv Griffin a celebrity? He had external beam radiation for treatment. I think we hear about all kind of treatments for the celebrities.  It is just  a question of preference. After all, when ever they put their pants on they do it the same way as we all do, one leg at a time... Where are you getting your information that survival is the same for WW as for surgery? Would you supply a reference? Regards, Ralph

Where are you getting your information that survival is the same for WW as for surgery? Would you supply a reference?     We have no evidence from any controlled trial that prostate      cancer treatment is any better than watchful waiting.          John M. Wassan, M.D. Director of Dartmouth Medical Center          for Aging.                KMC