Lycoene & Eligard

Hey Peter,

My quick Internet review suggests that there is very little evidence for Lycopene as an effective prostate cancer treatment.  On the other hand, everything I read said it will not hurt you, so go at it if you wish.  My radiation oncologist wants me to eat two cups of cooked tomatoes twice a week, so there are some who feel it is useful.  I happen to love tomato sauce, etc, so it is no burden for me.

Eric

Hi there,

Post operatively I had a PSA of 2.07 which under treatment with Firmagon rapidly fell to below the limit of detection.
I am drinking around 300ml of tomato juice per day plus I eat homemade tomato sauce with cheese, etc and I often have cooked tomatoes as well so I am maxing out on the lycopene.
Is it doing me any good?
Eighteen months down the line I am still below the limit of detection to the amazement of Eeyore my radiation guy.

Best wishes,

Georges

Peter,

You are welcome. Guys in this forum are not doctors but try to help the many with comments or opinions based on own experience.

I am locating you in Australia as the drugs triptorelin and bicalutamide are sold there under the brand names of Diphereline and Cosudex. Diphereline is a LHRH agonist similar to the Eligard (leuprolide) you just started. Both injections aim chemical castration (no testosterone in circulation) obliging the cancer to a sort of indolence status (loss of activity). Bicalutamide works differently. It blocks the cells androgen receptors (mouth of cancer) avoiding these from absorbing testosterone or other androgens produced by other glands. Unfortunately (ADT) hormonal treatment does not kill the bandit and in prolonged treatment one risks refractory to the drugs.

I applaud you to have chosen ADT as your prime therapy in spite of having a contained case. I know of two guys that managed to hold the bandit at bay during many years using the traditional hormonal drugs intermittently in three blockades as their prime therapy. They also used some tactics during the period of “off-drugs”, like avoiding blood vessel formation using thalidomide and stimulating the immune system with Leukine (sargramostim) in short periods. One guy started the intermittent treatment in 1995 and was still on it in 2015. Another started in 2000 and stopped it in 2012 due to refractory. Both had contained cases of Gleason score 7 which is lower than your Gs9. I wonder what did your doctor comment on your choice.
Can you tell us what made you to choose ADT instead of a radical? What is your age?

My experience is with Eligard 6-month dose in mono therapy. I had failed surgery (2000) and failed salvage radiotherapy (2006) leading me to the hormonal therapy that I started in 2010. The modality follows the principles of a famous medical oncologist named Myers. The intermittent applications (on and off-drugs periods) are regulated by established thresholds in PSA levels plus castration levels. I started with daily bicalutamide (50mg) taken during one month followed by a shot of Eligard 6-month dose. This took me into castration levels of testosterone lower than 25 ng/dL (0.8675 nmol/l). The PSA also dropped from 1.0 ng/ml to remission levels of less than 0.05 ng/ml. These levels were maintained during a full 12 months with three shots of Eligard before I could start the off-drugs period. The restarting of the on-drugs period is set to be when the PSA reaches the threshold of 2.5 ng/ml.

Surely this modality was set to my particular case with a Gleason score 6 (2+3). Other patients on ADT have their own modality but most Gs7 guys use higher PSA trigger thresholds of 5.0 or 10.0 ng/ml. So far I have done well being on vacations since 2012. The testosterone has increased to normal levels along with a slow increase of the PSA that is now at 2.14 ng/ml (from a low <0.02 in 2012). While on vacations, I have recuperated the quality of life and, surely, have avoided the risks that hypogonadism causes to our systems. I believe that this modality prolongs the effectiveness of the drugs (more cycles of the treatment) avoiding earlier setting of refractory.

I hope you too manage a prolonged ADT for the many years to come. I would recommend you to get the testosterone and PSA tests done periodically to evaluate the efficacy of the treatment. I also would check bone loss (osteopenia/osteoporosis) as prolonged ADT leads to such condition.

Best wishes.

VGama