r/ProstateCancer • u/Weekly-Ad2145 • 2d ago
Concern Acronym hell
Newly diagnosed and every damn thread on here has tons of acronyms which might be fun for you but really suck for anyone new. GAGABF (Give a guy a break, folks.)
EDIT: found this helpful https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/prostate-cancer-related-abbreviations-what-acronym-would-you-add/
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u/Murky_Kiwi 2d ago
I’m a 10 year survivor starting with Lupron and surgery, 3 radiation treatments and 2 Lupron treatments over that time. I lurk here and still have trouble with the acronyms. I google them too. That said, tons of info here.
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u/SLO_Engineer 2d ago
I feel your pain. My first few weeks in this sub, I was constantly googling to see what the acronyms were. I try to minimize my use of acronyms but sometimes I get lazy…
Hang out for a while, you’ll get it.
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u/OkCrew8849 2d ago edited 1d ago
Yes. Prostate Cancer has its own vocabulary and associated acronyms. When you hear about PSMA PET CT Scan for the first time from the Doc or here on the forum it can make your head spin. Learning new vocabulary words and acronyms takes time.
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u/Jonathan_Peachum 2d ago
Sort of on the subject: is there a difference between a RALP and a RARP?
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u/ChillWarrior801 1d ago
Good Q. I want to say "no". RALP is a more descriptive term. RARP just tells us it's Radical, duh, but it's the same procedure. Either way, you're chopped up.
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u/Santorini64 1d ago
I hear you. It was the same for me, and I have a medical background. My best advice is to run every acronym or strange name through Gemini, ChatGPT or the new Siri. Your knowledge will grow. Also, don’t be afraid to ask what the names and abbreviations mean. People here have been in your place and are eager and willing to help.
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u/WalnutRoasted 1d ago
The booklet https://www.cancercouncil.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Understanding-Prostate-Cancer-2026.pdf has lots of definitions and abbreviation in the section towards the end.
HINT: When you Google or search something, add the word “prostate” to the search to reduce unrelated terms coming up.
AI tools are great for stuff like: what does this biopsy / MRI report mean….compare X to y (like SBRT to HDR) …. or EBRT to RP prostatectomy for my age and type of PCA. What are the side-effects of ADT and how to mitigate them?
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u/Cool-Service-771 1d ago
How about this one QOL (quality of life (meaning sexual side effects-ed and leaking pee))
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u/HeadMelon 1d ago
Can we talk about ECE and EPE for a second, folks? Same? Different?
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u/Flaky-Past649 1d ago
Same. Extension outside the prostate capsule, just variability on which word is emphasized in the acronym Extra Capsular Extension or Extra Prostatic Extension.
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u/Weekly-Ad2145 1d ago
In the 80’s and 90’s I was an AIDS activist and somewhat of an expert on treatment and research. We definitely adopted a lot of acronyms in our daily discourse with each other and with medical professionals, who were often inaccessible with their jargon. It was part of our survival skill set. I guess this is the same thing. But we would also take pains to educate other commoners to help them access cutting edge info as well. Organizations were formed by activists to do just that, like Project Inform in San Francisco, where I worked. I wonder if Prostate Cancer has an equivalent.
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u/HopeSAK 1d ago
LOL, I hate acronyms too! I retired from the communications business in 2024 and they were always meetings and emails full of the damned things. When you'd ask what one means you'd never get a good answer, just that it has something to do with what the subject matter was about. Great, that helped, NOT. Anyway, that said, if you read this forum regularly you will get the hang of the most used acronyms.
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u/ithinkyourefine 1d ago
I honestly don’t understand any of it. All I know is I’m basically fucked. I have no idea what my Gleason rate is or anything. All I know is my psa was 85, on castration therapy and have one more chemo to go. Time to sell or give away some guitars and tools, clear the way. I’ve been teaching my wife how to look after things
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u/pemungkah 2d ago
Yeah, it’s a lot. Dr. Walsh’s book will help considerably. But:
- PSA: prostate specific antigen. Occurs naturally in the prostate. Most helps to liquefy semen, and a small amount circulates in the blood, but high levels indicate possible problems.
- MRI: magnetoresonant imaging. A big-ass superconducting magnet is spun around you; different molecules absorb different amounts and vibrate along with the field. Seriously cool computer programs can interpret the signals to make images of soft tissue that can’t be resolved as easily with x-rays.
- CT scan: same biz, with x-rays.
- PSMA: same thing, with something that binds to PSA proteins; a radiofluorine atom emits positrons, and a positron emission tomography machine (PET scannner) spot them. PSMA is good at spotting cancer that other scans don’t.
- LDR and HDR brachytherapy: low dose radiation and high dose radiation, done with isotopes that emit radiation that doesn’t travel as far. Essentially puts radiation right at the tumor site to knock it out.
- TULSA: targeted ultrasound to kill tumors. Heats up the tumor with a super tight focus.
- Cyberknife: robotic arm with a linear accelerator on it, steered by live imaging. Allows high-precision targeting of tumors.
- HIFU: similar to TULSA. Focused ultrasound treatment.
Those are the most common ones.