r/ProstateCancer • u/Weekly-Ad2145 • 3d 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/pemungkah 3d 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.

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u/KReddit934 3d ago

  • ADT: Androgen Deprivation Therapy. Drugs to reduce or stop your natural testosterone production to slow cancer growth. It can be primary treatment for advanced cancer or a short-term adjuvant treatment to help boost the efficacy of Radiation treatment

  • RO: Radiation Oncologist. The doc that does the Radiation treatments.