Guest guest Posted December 11, 2004 Report Share Posted December 11, 2004 Hi, Not to burst your bubble of optimism, but, I wonder exactly why it is that RCOG says that it is the only place using their particular technique. Common sense would prompt the question of, if it saves lives, would not every cancer center do what RCOG does? I don't know the answer to this, but, it is a question I would love to hear your thoughts on....maybe you as a potential patient could ask them and report back, if you have the time during this holiday season. Cheers, from Darryl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 12, 2004 Report Share Posted December 12, 2004 I will make a few comments on RCOG (Radiotherapy Clinics of Georgia) since it was raised here again. I was personally treated for PC at RCOG about 6 months ago. I did comment on RCOG previously and provided some references but got the impression from this site that no one here really believed RCOG was unique or was doing what they said they were. I am happy to answer questions or discuss what I know but I am not interested in debating. They have been treating prostate cancer with radiation since 1984 and with the most modern techniques since about 1992. They have the largest database of treated prostate cancer patients that I am aware of. They now treat about 1000 patients per year. They are unique in a number of ways in that they have many years of specialized experience, use a combination of iodine seed implants and IMRT external beam radiation in a sequence that no one else does as far as I know. Their criteria for cure are very rigid and not accepted by many other radiation therapy groups who prefer to use more flexible criteria for reporting their cure rates which will statistically increase their cure rates. They do not use hormones and their complication rates are as low or lower than any published. Why other centers are not doing the same has no clear answer but common sense does not always prevail in medicine as you all know. Many doctors and centers just keep doing what they have always done even in the face of evidence that there might be better ways. I am not suggesting that RCOG's method is the only good way to treat PC but I believe a look at the evidence will show that they have among the best published results with a low rate of complications. If anyone is interested in what they do I would suggest visiting their website which is www.rcog.net and/or contact them for their newest brochure. Leo Yoder Re: ROCG Hi, Not to burst your bubble of optimism, but, I wonder exactly why it is that RCOG says that it is the only place using their particular technique. Common sense would prompt the question of, if it saves lives, would not every cancer center do what RCOG does? I don't know the answer to this, but, it is a question I would love to hear your thoughts on....maybe you as a potential patient could ask them and report back, if you have the time during this holiday season. Cheers, from Darryl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 12, 2004 Report Share Posted December 12, 2004 Darryl and Leo I'm sure you will agree that treatment for PCa is horses for courses so we on this group advise patients to be as well informed as possible taking various opinions if necessary before jumping for a treatment and possibly a centre of excellence. I know that on another group there has been much discussion on how RCOG works out non recurrence and my advice is to look at recurrence rates using the same definition eg case 1- 10 years with PSA less than 1.0 or in case 2 - 10 years with PSA less than 0.1. Two very different recurrence definitions. We too sometimes have to look at new work, somebody has to be in the first trial and we can't all wait 10 years to see if something new will work. At the end of the day it is the choice of a well informed patient that matters Best wishes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 12, 2004 Report Share Posted December 12, 2004 , Thanks for the note. Would you be willing to share with me on or off the this group who the other group is that has been discussing RCOG? I am not aware of this group. Thanks, Leo Re: Re: ROCG Darryl and Leo I'm sure you will agree that treatment for PCa is horses for courses so we on this group advise patients to be as well informed as possible taking various opinions if necessary before jumping for a treatment and possibly a centre of excellence. I know that on another group there has been much discussion on how RCOG works out non recurrence and my advice is to look at recurrence rates using the same definition eg case 1- 10 years with PSA less than 1.0 or in case 2 - 10 years with PSA less than 0.1. Two very different recurrence definitions. We too sometimes have to look at new work, somebody has to be in the first trial and we can't all wait 10 years to see if something new will work. At the end of the day it is the choice of a well informed patient that matters Best wishes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 12, 2004 Report Share Posted December 12, 2004 By all accounts the people at RCoG are a pretty unusual bunch – I have read so many reports about how dedicated they are and how well men are treated there. Their results are pretty impressive, although I must say it would help if they used the same criteria as other facilities so there cold be a direct comparison without having to make conversions based on speculation. The one issue that does make me wonder about some of their claims regarding side effects is that these have never been published in any peer-reviewed journal. They have a huge database – there is an extensive questionnaire that is completed by the treated men after each review, yet the extracts from this database have not been published except in their brochures and websites etc. I wonder why? All the best Terry Herbert in sunny Kalk Bay, South Africa Diagnosed ‘96: Age 54: Stage T2b: PSA 7.2: Gleason 3+3=6: No treatment. June '04: TURP. Sep '04 PSA 7.45 fPSA 42% My site is at www.prostatecancerwatchfulwaiting.co.za It is a tragedy of the world that no one knows what he doesn’t know, and the less a man knows, the more sure he is that he knows everything. Joyce Carey -----Original Message----- From: lyoder@... Sent: 12 December 2004 11:36 To: ProstateCancerSupport Subject: RE: Re: ROCG I will make a few comments on RCOG (Radiotherapy Clinics of Georgia) since it was raised here again. I was personally treated for PC at RCOG about 6 months ago. I did comment on RCOG previously and provided some references but got the impression from this site that no one here really believed RCOG was unique or was doing what they said they were. I am happy to answer questions or discuss what I know but I am not interested in debating. They have been treating prostate cancer with radiation since 1984 and with the most modern techniques since about 1992. They have the largest database of treated prostate cancer patients that I am aware of. They now treat about 1000 patients per year. They are unique in a number of ways in that they have many years of specialized experience, use a combination of iodine seed implants and IMRT external beam radiation in a sequence that no one else does as far as I know. Their criteria for cure are very rigid and not accepted by many other radiation therapy groups who prefer to use more flexible criteria for reporting their cure rates which will statistically increase their cure rates. They do not use hormones and their complication rates are as low or lower than any published. Why other centers are not doing the same has no clear answer but common sense does not always prevail in medicine as you all know. Many doctors and centers just keep doing what they have always done even in the face of evidence that there might be better ways. I am not suggesting that RCOG's method is the only good way to treat PC but I believe a look at the evidence will show that they have among the best published results with a low rate of complications. If anyone is interested in what they do I would suggest visiting their website which is www.rcog.net and/or contact them for their newest brochure. Leo Yoder Re: ROCG Hi, Not to burst your bubble of optimism, but, I wonder exactly why it is that RCOG says that it is the only place using their particular technique. Common sense would prompt the question of, if it saves lives, would not every cancer center do what RCOG does? I don't know the answer to this, but, it is a question I would love to hear your thoughts on....maybe you as a potential patient could ask them and report back, if you have the time during this holiday season. Cheers, from Darryl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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