- Joe, 54

Driven by desire to provide for his young family and avoid risks associated with prostate cancer surgery.

Joe’s routine bloodwork shows an elevated PSA score and he is later diagnosed with prostate cancer — particularly shocking given his age. His doctor recommends surgery to remove his prostate, and radiation. Joe is concerned about his prognosis, how treatment will affect his ability to work and other areas of his life, and how to tell his young children. Engaging with an Ardynn advocate helped Joe and his family in all these areas, and brought him tremendous peace of mind.

About

Married with two young children. Sole provider for his family. Travels extensively for work.

Priorities

Feel good. Be present for his family. Continue working and traveling.

Key Concern

Fearful of the risks of impotence and incontinence that are associated with prostate surgery.

Treatment Decision

Watchful waiting

Joe is an engineer. He is married with two young children. He is the sole provider for his family and travels quite frequently for work. Routine bloodwork shows an elevated PSA score and Joe is later diagnosed with prostate cancer. This diagnosis is particularly shocking given his age. His doctor recommends surgery to remove his prostate, and also radiation. Joe is immediately concerned about his prognosis, how treatment will affect his ability to work and his life in general, and how to talk to his young children about his situation.

Joe’s health plan reaches out to inform him of a benefit he is eligible for called Ardynn. That day, he is connected with a cancer-specialized Ardynn advocate who coaches him through how to talk to his children in an age-appropriate manner — a huge relief to Joe and his wife. They also discuss his goals for treatment and the side effects associated with each of his options. His advocate is able to show Joe treatment outcomes for other people like him — meaning people the same age, sex, race, cancer type, and overall health status. This includes the 5-year survival rate without treatment.

After seeing the high survival rates associated with his diagnosis, Joe’s main concern becomes managing the disease while maintaining his quality of life. He wants to continue working, traveling, and providing for his family. He’d also like to minimize the side effects and financial burden of treatment. The advocate provides a report outlining the information shared along with an overview of Joe’s goals and preferences to share with his family and care team.

Outcomes for people like me

Joe’s Ardynn advocate prepares a report to share with him, which includes outcomes for people like Joe. This data – and insights derived from it – are unique to Ardynn, and helped Joe feel confident in moving forward.

Information about Joe

Diagnosis: Prostate Cancer
Age: 54
Sex: M
Race/Ethnicity: Male
Comorbidity Score: None
Histology: Adenocarcinoma
T (Primary): T2
N (Regional): N0
M (Distant): M0
PSA: 7
Gleason Score: 2-6 (Well Differentiated)

Real-world survival outcomes for people like Joe

Scroll to view columns >

Survival Curve	After 1 yr	After 2 yrs	After 3 yrs	After 4 yrs	After 5 yrs
Total population The dark blue line depicts estimated survival for similar individuals	100%	99%	99%	98%	97%
Similar patients, same type of cancer, no treatment The orange line depicts estimated survival for similar individuals who did not receive treatment for their Prostate Cancer.	99%	98%	98%	97%	97%
Treatment(s): Surgery and Radiation The light blue line depicts estimated survival for similar individuals treated with surgery and radiation	99%	98%	98%	97%	96%
Treatment(s): Surgery The green line depicts estimated survival for similar individuals treated with surgery.	100%	99%	99%	98%	98%
Treatment(s): Radiation The yellow line depicts estimated survival for similar individuals treated with radiation.	99%	99%	98%	98%	97%

Treatment decision

With this information, Joe and his oncologist decide to take a watchful waiting approach, resulting in the same 5-year survival rate and a better quality of life to align with Joe’s priorities. This allowed him to continue working, continue being present for his family, and, importantly, feel confident in having made a decision that felt right for him. This story is illustrative based on a real Ardynn case; name and likeness of the member has been changed to respect their privacy.

This story is illustrative based on a real Ardynn case; name and likeness of the member has been changed to respect their privacy.

“Ardynn has helped me in so many ways. My advocate’s coaching about how to talk to my children about my cancer in a way that made sense to them was a huge relief to me and my wife – and that was just one topic covered during our first of many meetings.”

JOE

Real stories. Real impact.

-Susan, 54

“There are no words to describe the value of Ardynn’s guidance and support. We feel fortunate to have access…”

See Susan’s story

-Kristi, 46

“There is no one right answer for treating cancer, but having access to Ardynn can empower patients to …”

See Kristi’s story

-Steve, 57

“Seeing Ardynn’s proprietary outcomes data for people like me with the same type of cancer…”

See Steve’s story

Driven by desire to provide for his young family and avoid risks associated with prostate cancer surgery.

Outcomes for people like me

Treatment decision

Real stories. Real impact.

Solutions

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