Myth 19

Fact: Recurrence of prostate cancer can be wrenching. But just because a cancer comes back doesn’t mean you can’t reach remission again. What it does mean is that you’ll likely have to try another approach to treatment.

“Your first cancer cure is always the best,”. “But you do have a possibility for cure if it comes back — particularly if you’ve had an initial radical prostatectomy, in which case if you catch [the recurrence] early, you can radiate and get a pretty good cure rate.”

One of the reasons doctors often recommend surgery before radiation is for this reason — so that people get a second chance at cure if the cancer comes back and they monitor their condition appropriately.