Provenge? Anyone scheduled for this treatment?

trainstop said:

September 20, 2010 -
September 20, 2010 - 6:53pm
T4 PCa
new
trainstop,
Welcome to the PCa forum. Although, we do not have any personal experience with Provenge, we have met one older gentleman in our face to face PCa group who is on Provenge. He appears extremely pleased with the treatment & infusions and touts that he is feeling healthy and doing well--he also looks good! (Hope that helps.) As your post indicated, your PCa is at the T4 stage with some micrometastatic lessions. Wondering what tests were used to locate the lessions (bone scan, mri, etc?), & if you are receiving any type of RT-radiation treatments-such as IMRT or Stereotactic RT, for the lessions. If so, how has it worked out? As you, we've heard that Abiraterone is showing promise in clincial trials. Let's all hope that it will be fast-tracked through the FDA when clinical trials are completed or perhaps sooner, since the current data is so positive. Was it ever an option for you to be in an Abiraterone trial? My husband has T3 locally advanced non-metastasized PCa and is currently in treatment with ADT, HDR-B (completed), and IMRT. If possible, I would encourage you to continue to post your experience here, especially with regard to Provenge.

Wishing you all the best,
mrs pjd Thanks for the reply and, of course, wishing nothing but the best to you and your husband. My last PSA was in July, this year, and to qualify for Provenge, you must have had hormone failure with a rising PSA. I have both! No steroids, Casodex or other treatment to be administered before the Provenge, as discussed and told to me by my oncologist at DF in Boston. They are treating me systematically rather than isolated therapy such as radiation, which I believe is correct. Recent bone and CT scan showed two small lesions on upper spine about 6-8 inches below the back of one's neck, thoracic region. The problem is these cancers have a mindset of their own and until something shows up, simply one is presumably OK. I had the opportunity to be on the Aberaterone trial, but refused since it was a blind study. To some degree it may have been a better choice than the Casodex, but with Provenge then Aberaterone, hope it is approved soon, which DF seems to be confident it will, I'm beginning to like my chances to prolong a reasonable quality of life somewhat better. In any event, I will post my progression with Provenge as it occurs. 28 days and counting.

VascodaGama said:

Beverlyann; Trainstop does not “stop” here anymore
Hi Beverlyann

It seems that Trainstop does not “stop” here anymore. Many survivors would like to know about experiences on provenge.
I am not taking the drug but I read that you can “move” from immunological therapy (provenge) to hormone or to chemo therapy if the former fails. Dr. Leibowitz is an experienced oncologist for advanced cases and a researcher in HEMATOLOGY. He follows his own protocols that you can read at his team site (http://compassionateoncology.org/).
One of his partners at Compassionate, Dr. Bob has been treating advanced risk patients with a “cocktail” of drugs that include immunologic drugs too. He has published a paper on treatments titled “DR. BOB’S (NOT SO) SECRET RECIPE FOR TREATING
METASTATIC, ADVANCED OR RECURRENT PROSTATE CANCER” which you can read in this site;
http://compassionateoncology.org/pdfs/3-pronged-111908.pdf

I hope you share your experiences with us.

Wishing the above info is of help.
Welcome to the board.
VGama

mrspjd said:

Provenge, etc
I thought Provenge was used in cases of metastatic castrate resistant, i.e. hormone refractory, disease, where chemotherapy, such as taxotere (docetaxel), has also failed. In other words, if PSA is rising in the context of continued ADT tx, then I believe that would be termed “castrate resistant PCa” (CRPC). Therefore, I’m confused by the recent posts with questions/answers that hormone tx might follow Provenge. Wondering how and why current FDA approved hormone drugs might be used after Provenge tx? ...Unless the hormone tx referred to (following Provenge) might be the not yet FDA approved Abiraterone, assuming it had not already been tried?

Provenge is defined on the manufacturer’s (Dendreon) website as “the first FDA-approved autologous cellular immunotherapy for the treatment of asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic metastatic castrate resistant (hormone refractory) prostate cancer (CRPC).” That website, which you might find helpful, was created to provide basic information to physicians and patients: www.provenge.com

As txs such as Provenge (immunotherapy) and Abiraterone (ADT) continue to show promise in the tx of advanced metastatic disease, I've heard that the future trend in the PCa medical community may be to begin those tx protocols sooner, at earlier stages of disease, such as intermediate risk, with hopes of successful PCa abatement.

BTW, Dr Leibowitz and Dr “Bob” (his nickname) are the same person, i.e. Dr Bob Leibowitz. He is known as a maverick in the PCa medical community and some say that many of his tx protocols for advanced metastatic PCa, while unorthodox, have shown some promise within his own clinical practice and study data; however, to the best of my knowledge, many of those tx findings have not been studied or replicated by other independent sources. That said, I’m sure he’s helped many men with end-stage disease.

Kongo said:

I don't get it
Like MrsPJD I too understood that Provenge was a final treatment drug after cancer had spread to other organs and that the overall extension in life expectancy was about three months. Frankly, after the billons upon billions of dollars spent on research it is disappointing to me that the latest and greatest treatment only prolongs life for a very short period of time at enormous cost.

I do understand that perhaps the knowledge gained from use of the drug at end stages of prostate cancer may lead to additional progress at earlier stages but for most of us with prostae cancer today the liklihood that we would see a benefit from some future breakthrough seems to be slim.

It seems to be that the present research fails to address the underlying causes of cancer in Western nations and instead tries to identify a "silver bullet" that will kill it after the fact. I suspect that the fundamental causes have much more about how we live and what we put into our bodies that feed cancer or create a chemical environment that triggers unchecked cell growth but I see little if any research there. There's no money for the drug companies in having us change our diet to avoid cancer.

K

tarhoosier said:

silver bullet?
No.

We have ways to detect Cancer, Prostate and other. The "silver bullet" we need is the treatment for this disease that provides a cure without lingering anxiety of treatment failure. One that works against the disease in all stages. A treatment that can be successful in local and systemic disease. This magic, special, unique drug, this "Eureka" pill is not in the offing.

Kongo said:

Vasco
I agree with tarhoosier on this one, Vasco. The genetic test described in The Guardian is kind of a "so what" to me without more information. We can already detect prostate cancer and we know already those men who at higher risk than others. Waiting three years for a genetic test that only gives us what we know today (with perhaps a marginal increase in specificity) doesn't seem to me that we're making real rapid progress in the genomic aspect of treating cancer.

Now I agree that genome research holds many promises and who knows where it will all lead someday. But we do know today that our lifestyles and diet play a much more direct role in our vulnerability to cancer. Your own experiences in Asia show you that the "secret" is in what we put in our bodies and the statistics from those countries are quite compelling.

K

p.s. I am not understanding what Bynlista has to do with PCa

mrspjd said:

one single factor?
Silver bullet, eureka pill, or magic cure...we can only hope and pray for a PCa causal discovery which might lead to cure, or vice versa. Like the origins of our universe, the best and the brightest minds have long studied theories and have yet to agree on one common causal effect.

It seems more likely that the “answer(s)” is not black and white but instead shades of gray involving the reactions of multiple impinging forces such as DNA, internal and external chemical environment, environmental hazard exposure, diet/food sources, lifestyle choices, etc. that differ with each person. The common element, or more likely, the element combination, may hold the key to opening new scientific doors.

Although the importance of diet/food choices (as well as exercise) is not to be overlooked as a personally manageable/controllable lifestyle option, IMHO, it is unlikely to be the single factor making a difference in proactive cancer awareness & prevention. But that said, it can’t hurt either, and my husband and I are advocates of a heart/PCa healthy diet & lifestyle.

As Kongo writes, it appears that most current research fails to address the underlying causes of cancer/PCa on many levels, deep pocket drug companies, for one. Even though, I have to believe we will continue to see progress, perhaps answers, in our lifetime.

mrs pjd