Zytiga has anybody tryed it

ralph.townsend1 said:

Schedule and effect
VGama, Thank you for all your support to all!!

Medicine

Lupron every 4 months
Carvedilol twice daily 12.5 mg
Quinapril 20 mg once in the morning
Glyburide 1.5 mg once in the morning
Lyrica twice daily 300 mg
asprin 81 mg daily
Vitamin D 2000iu daily
Simvastatin 40 mg in the evening

The first month on Zytiga I started the morning with Zytiya 4-250mg first and then wait for a hour to eat and take my morning medicine with the prednisone .5mg. Had some side effect of disconfort. Some of the thing listed by J&J.

Then I went back to Back MD Anderson after 1 month and told the doctor of my condition. They told me to eat first and with my medicine and the prednisone. Then waiting the 2 hours and take the Zytiga. The side effects seemed to have decrease. Now waiting for a hour or more to eat anything else.

I found that increase of water through out the day seem to help with the side effects. Also time between food and medicine also seem help decrease side effect. Instead of 2 hours, I would go 2 1/2 hours and instead of 1 hour, i would go 1 hour 15 minute. I would drink enough water to get zytiga down, trying not to drink any other liquids with Zytiga. Orange juice, coke ETC.

Some of the side effects are due to the Lupron, so it sometimes hard to understand which drug is the effect. But my opinion of Zytiga is that it will probally give me maybe 18 months quality life.

VGama and everybody good luck with your direction in life.

God bless

Hi Ralph,

I take my Zytiga at around 5 am (when I have to go to the John) so I have been fasting for at least six hours. Then, after breakfast around 8 am I take the Prednisone and my daily meds. I find this regimen easy to follow with no apparent side effects.

How are you fairing?

Jim

ralph.townsend1 said:

Lupron and Zytiga
The Doctors from MD Anderson have me on the lupron 4 month dose with Zytiga. I think MD Anderson are the best the nation and my Doctor is one the best! They told me last month or should I said to them. How much time do have and said 2 1/2 to 5 years. He said how fast it move into the bone's and if they can slow it down. That do think of MDV3000? VA is Compenstated me 100% totally and Permanently To think I will maybe only make to my 65th birthday. Got shot at and miss and **** at and hit. I know that there is 58 some thousands people that would like to in my shoe, that did not come home and I honor them as the true hero's! Sorry side track, do you know about this Zytiga?

At age 45, i was diagnosed with prostate cancer in both side of my prostate, but not yet in the lymp nodes and bone. It took a minute for my ego to chose life but I did, and a radical prostectomy was performed. My life had just changed forever. After things healed up we immediately did 6 weeks of focused beam radiation. Now PSA is (Undetectable). Recovery went well, except for the incontinence the drove me almost insane. To be standing talking and feel yourself leak uncontrolled, was nerve racking. So a one year later, I told my Doctor, then from St. Lukes, but fantastic. That I could not continue leakking uncontrolled like this. So his solution was an Artificial Urinary Sphinter, that has been working great to this day. It is a small cuff placed around the urethra at the bladder neck and operated by a small device in one testical. it is barely noticibale, but does a fantastic job.  My company drop insurance that my Urologist used, and I moved  to MDAderson where I heard were the best. Because after 15 years of (undetectable) I had a reoccurence in 2011. By 2014 I was 2.1 and it was suggested to start Lupron and Zytiga. I said no, I went to Cancer Treatment Centers of America, but they came up with the same diagnosis and treatment. So I went back to MDAnders now at 2.9 and started treatment 2 months ago. at the end of  (first month) of the Lupron injection, 4 250mg tabs of Zytiga a day, and 1 tab of prednisone, I was back to (undetectable). So far the side effects have not been that radical, just a little tired at times, which can be compensated for. This is a trial (Zytiga / Prednisone) FYI I am now 59.

pquinn said:

zytiga

I am new to this site . My husband has stage 4 since 20ll. Had prostatectomy but unfortunately had already had mets to bone . On lupron since then with good result until 2 weeks ago sent to oncologist as psa rise to 3 . Repeat psa 7. He reassured us there are many things to try . He was alitte rushed as he fit us in. He called on the phone and wants to repeat scans as none have been done in 4 years . He names mutiple drugs a casodrex, firmagon and newer ones as zytiga .  We made another appontment for next week as we were confused as to his plan . How would firmagon help as his t level is low now. Also would casadex help ? He  also received  xgeva from the start , feels fine , no pain , rectal was normal. Your posts are very infomative and helpful. 

Thanks

PQUINN,

A friend was on Zytiga two years ago. He was not a very cooperative patient, but it did knock his PSA down nicely (it was around 600 when he started, if I remember correctly).  I do not remember the side-effects being much more than weak appetite and fatigue.  He later went on Jevtana, which also was helpful, but the Jevtana caused him severe looseness in the bowels, which is a common side-effect of that drug. I believe that part of his bowel issues derived from the fact that radiation had badly damaged his colon years earlier, so not everyone is likely to have that problem to the degree he did.

Jevtana and Zytiga were both initially FDA approved as follow-on drugs to fight metastatic disease after Taxotere (the usual prostate chemo drug; also known as docetaxel) had failed; Taxotere is not regarded as 'curative' for metastatic PCa.  They are now used at other stages of treatment by many docotrs, so your sequencing throught these drugs may or may not follow Taxotere, if your husband does receive it.

The prognosis for life extension on Jevtana-Zytiga varies significanly, and the early reports were based on very small population samples.  It is quite possible that they will assist your husband for a long time, however, and I hope they do so.

Please note: from what you wrote, it is quite possible your husband is not to the point that these  'chemo and post-chemo' drugs are required. I am not very well-read in end-stage treatments (I just asked a lot of tretment questions from my firend's NP when taking him to the doctor, and then researced each drug a little).  Chemo, for advanced metastatic disease, is ordinarily regarded as the "last hurrah" in treatments, so save it for the final battel, when ever that time arrives.

max

http://chemocare.com/chemotherapy/drug-info/Jevtana.aspx

http://chemocare.com/chemotherapy/drug-info/zytiga.aspx

http://chemocare.com/chemotherapy/drug-info/Taxotere.aspx

VascodaGama said:

Post to PQUINN above

PQUINN

You may want to start a newer thread to discuss and share details about your husband PCa story.

A note on your above questions (http://csn.cancer.org/node/236006#comment-1520990), on Firmagon, Casodex and Zytiga, recommended by his oncologist, I would consider trying all of them at (its own timing) because they may have a meaning in the treatment of your husband’s present status, if his cancer is still hormone dependent.

Yours and your doctor’s decisions should be taken from a testosterone test. All three drugs will try to subdue the cancer by starving it, avoiding it from absorbing androgens.

Firmagon works similarly to Lupron in reducing circulating testosterone (cancer food) in the body but its achievement is done differently from the way of Lupron. Lupron is an LHRH agonist and Firmagon is an antagonist. Lupron floods the pituitary LSH signal system and Firmagon obstructs the LSH signal receptors at the pituitary. When one is not functioning well it can be substituted by the other.
These drugs good action can be verify from a simple testosterone test. If your husband is in clinical castrate levels (T=< 50 ng/dL) it means that the drugs are OK but the cancer has become hormone refractory.

Casodex works at the cell’s androgen receptors flooding it so that these cells cannot absorb the real stuff (testosterone). Patients taking Lupron would expect lesser testosterone in circulation but the agonist is feasible to avoid manufacturing of T at the testes. Androgens produced in the adrenal glands (10% of the circulating androgens) are not affected and will be circulating and feeding the cancer.

Zytiga is a newer drug that will go further the line trying to avoid the manufacturing of testosterone in the whole body, by suppressing an enzyme (CYP17) required in the production of androgens. Please read my above post. The drug has its risks because it may interfere in the production of substances required for other body functions so that it is administered with prednisone, an immunosuppressant drug good in inflammatory situations caused when certain body substances are lacking.

In any case, hormone refractory patients may not benefit as much from hormone treatments so that doctors move up in the sequential recommending treatment with chemotherapy. Max above provide you with good information on that matter.

Best wishes,

VGama

It's easy for me to say because I don't have to deal w/the problem yet but, if I ever have to make the decision, I think that I'd still prefer to just cut off my balls and deal w/the side effects of that rather than have to deal the confusing array of ADT drugs -- Lupron, Firmagon, Casodex, Zytiga, whatever -- and their various (sometimes extremely debilitating) side effects.