Ryne Sandberg has metastatic prostate cancer

[GrandSlamPozo]

View: https://twitter.com/BleacherNation/status/1749513234934325582?t=DD_5uMCyk9DnCVyRTWPkOg&s=19


Get well Ryno. Hoping he pulls through but his prognosis isn't great, sadly.

 

[SemperFidelisSox]

His statue is being unveiled outside Wrigley in June.

 

[Yaz4Ever]

fuck cancer

 

[bsj]

i dont know the specifics of his diagnosis, but this is what scares me when I hear they are doing less screening for prostate cancer because it "spreads so slowly"

 

[Humphrey]

i dont know the specifics of his diagnosis, but this is what scares me when I hear they are doing less screening for prostate cancer because it "spreads so slowly"

I have found the opposite in terms of my medical care. "Bottoms Up" annually as well as a (blood) PSA test. No issues w/insurance coverage.

Hope that in Sandberg's case it wasn't something that was not checked regularly.

 

[McBride11]

i dont know the specifics of his diagnosis, but this is what scares me when I hear they are doing less screening for prostate cancer because it "spreads so slowly"

Less screening is being performed due to a ridiculous recommendation from the US preventative task force services in 2012. There was concern for over diagnosing.
That cmte included zero urologists and has headed by a pediatrician. Ya know, the real experts on prostate cancer.

This made headlines big time. Plus lots of trainees learned this message and carried it into practice.
This was reversed in 2018 or 19 but made much less headlines.

So less prostate cancer is being diagnosed and more is being diagnosed at higher stages.

men 55 and over should get yearly test (blood psa) with pcp.
start younger if strong family history or african american descent.
rectal exam is going away so dont fret (i do zero now unless specifically requested).

 

[Eric1984]

Less screening is being performed due to a ridiculous recommendation from the US preventative task force services in 2012. There was concern for over diagnosing.
That cmte included zero urologists and has headed by a pediatrician. Ya know, the real experts on prostate cancer.

This made headlines big time. Plus lots of trainees learned this message and carried it into practice.
This was reversed in 2018 or 19 but made much less headlines.

So less prostate cancer is being diagnosed and more is being diagnosed at higher stages.

men 55 and over should get yearly test (blood psa) with pcp.
start younger if strong family history or african american descent.
rectal exam is going away so dont fret (i do zero now unless specifically requested).

My primary care guy does the rectal prostate exam (which, at 53, I definitely dread each year). Is it still considered useful? And is the blood test more useful? My doc is pretty good and it's easy to get in to see him when I need to, but I hate that part of the physical and it causes me to put it off...

 

[CarolinaBeerGuy]

My dad had prostate cancer about a decade or so ago. His was detected early so his doctor recommended he fly down to Florida to have robotic surgery. He did so and fully recovered. Because of this history, I started getting my PSA tested annually in my mid-thirties.

 

[mjs]

Gentlemen, I encourage you to get your PSA tested as part of your annual checkup. It is easy to go online and find good information about the age to start this screening. Based on my steadily climbing PSA and family history I was referred to urology and got the full imaging and biopsy workups, which led me to prostate surgery at age 62. No spread was detected so it appears that it was caught early enough. Not fun, but I am so glad I did not put off the screening.

 

[Strike4]

I'm 45 with no family history but PCP still has me do the annual mail in poop test. Good to have that.

 

[McBride11]

My primary care guy does the rectal prostate exam (which, at 53, I definitely dread each year). Is it still considered useful? And is the blood test more useful? My doc is pretty good and it's easy to get in to see him when I need to, but I hate that part of the physical and it causes me to put it off...

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2588931123002924


Patient summary
Our review shows that the screening performance of digital rectal examination for detection of prostate cancer is not particularly impressive, suggesting that it might not be necessary to conduct this examination routinely

 

[bsj]

I'm 45 with no family history but PCP still has me do the annual mail in poop test. Good to have that.

That's more colon than prostate tho right?

 

[McBride11]

I'm 45 with no family history but PCP still has me do the annual mail in poop test. Good to have that.

that is colon likely def not prostate

 

[fiskful of dollars]

Yep. BUT not to derail the thread...get a colonoscopy at 50! Earlier if you have inflammatory bowel disease (NOT irritable bowel disease) or a family history. It's not nearly as bad as you imagine. nd you get Cheez-its when you're done!

I dread the 60 yo dude w/ atraumatic back pain in the ED...50/50 the L-spine film I order is gonna be meastastic prostate CA. Check your PSA's!

 

[Max Power]

rectal exam is going away so dont fret (i do zero now unless specifically requested).

Is there an upcharge for that?

 

[McBride11]

Yep. BUT not to derail the thread...get a colonoscopy at 50! Earlier if you have inflammatory bowel disease (NOT irritable bowel disease) or a family history. It's not nearly as bad as you imagine. nd you get Cheez-its when you're done!

I dread the 60 yo dude w/ atraumatic back pain in the ED...50/50 the L-spine film I order is gonna be meastastic prostate CA. Check your PSA's!

Isn't colonoscopy male 45 now? Only on my radar since I have a few more years until that fun.

As for Ryne, the 'good news' is even metastatic prostate cancer can be well treated (vs colon or lung for example) with a slew of new medications and regimens. The 'metastatic' is also vague whether it is lymph nodes or more distant mets.

 

[Strike4]

That's more colon than prostate tho right?

Oh RIGHT

 

[DrBlinky]

Gentlemen, I encourage you to get your PSA tested as part of your annual checkup. It is easy to go online and find good information about the age to start this screening. Based on my steadily climbing PSA and family history I was referred to urology and got the full imaging and biopsy workups, which led me to prostate surgery at age 62. No spread was detected so it appears that it was caught early enough. Not fun, but I am so glad I did not put off the screening.

My PSA has been slowly creeping until it took a jump in a followup test in Dec. (I was not told about not engaging in any "activity" the 48 hours prior. Oops) I was retested a couple weeks later and it had dropped back to normal, but the free percentage was low, so I was referred to a urologist. That appointment is in a couple weeks. My PCP thinks a biopsy may be in my future since the numbers were a mixed bag. (My PCP stopped the DREs a few years back.)

 

[Andy Merchant]

men 55 and over should get yearly test (blood psa) with pcp.
start younger if strong family history or african american descent.
rectal exam is going away so dont fret (i do zero now unless specifically requested).

This is what my new PCP said when I asked last year, good to hear other docs recommending the same.

 

[fiskful of dollars]

Yeah, 45 is the new 50 for "normal risk" patients. Thanks for the reminder.

 

[YTF]

Isn't colonoscopy male 45 now? Only on my radar since I have a few more years until that fun.

As for Ryne, the 'good news' is even metastatic prostate cancer can be well treated (vs colon or lung for example) with a slew of new medications and regimens. The 'metastatic' is also vague whether it is lymph nodes or more distant mets.

I think a lot depends on personal health history, family health history and your PCP. Also, part of the thinking is that it is an invasive procedure that does carry some amount of risk so some elect to start later if there are no indicators that a patient should start sooner.

 

[kartvelo]

A little over year ago (at 65, about to turn 66) I asked my PCP for a PSA test even though I had no symptoms, because I hadn't had one in many years and I wanted to make sure I didn't run into problems later, as some of my friends had been. The test came back with a PSA level of 324. Subsequent scans, a biopsy, etc. showed metastatic prostate cancer that had spread to lymph nodes and bones. We had to remove two vertebrae from my neck because they were so compromised, and I've spent the past year plus going through chemo, radiation, and a lot of medications - not counting the neck surgery and the hospitalization due to COVID in the middle of it all. It's a process, still ongoing.

IANAD, but I recommend ignoring the 2012 guidance and getting PSA testing done. If I'd had the test done maybe 10 years ago, this might have been curable.

 

[Spud]

A little over year ago (at 65, about to turn 66) I asked my PCP for a PSA test even though I had no symptoms, because I hadn't had one in many years and I wanted to make sure I didn't run into problems later, as some of my friends had been. The test came back with a PSA level of 324. Subsequent scans, a biopsy, etc. showed metastatic prostate cancer that had spread to lymph nodes and bones. We had to remove two vertebrae from my neck because they were so compromised, and I've spent the past year plus going through chemo, radiation, and a lot of medications - not counting the neck surgery and the hospitalization due to COVID in the middle of it all. It's a process, still ongoing.

IANAD, but I recommend ignoring the 2012 guidance and getting PSA testing done. If I'd had the test done maybe 10 years ago, this might have been curable.

Best of luck to you. Cancer sucks.