prostate cancer

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DOCTORO
DOCTORO Member Posts: 1
edited March 2014 in Prostate Cancer #1
I DON'T KNOW IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED BUT I AM 76 YRS AND WAS DIAGNOSED IN 2000 UNDERWENT EXTERNAL RADIATION 28 TREATMENTS (A ****) PSA LOW ALL GENERALLY TILL 2007 RISING PSA ONCOLOGIST SUGGESTED SOME TYPE OF RADIATION THERAPY REQUIRING HOSPITALIZATION AND SEEDS TO RESCUE..CONSULT DONE IN BOSTON @ DANA FARBER ADVISED TO UNDERGO LUPRON INJECTIONS PSA MANAGABLE ALSO ON CASADEX NOW RECENT PSA JUMPED FROM 1.08 TO 4 AND WITHIN A MONTH TO 7.NOW ONCOLOGIST SUGGESTS GHANGED HORMONAL THERAPY BONE SCANS AND CATSCANS FREE OF ANY METESTASIS..ANY COMMENTS?

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  • 2ndBase
    2ndBase Member Posts: 220
    #2
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    Psa Rising
    From your psa numbers alone it seems the hormone therapy is not going to bring your psa number down to a level that will make anyone happy. I am in hospice care now with a psa in the thousands or higher and was at your level about 3 years ago. I am only 59 years old and that is a disadvantage as my cancer probably is much more aggressive than yours as getting older should slow the process.

    The fact that nothing shows on a bone scan is not surprising as tumors need to be pretty large to really show up on such tests. My last test in May which was basically just an Xray however showed many of my tumors and by now they can be seen from with the naked eye as bulges from my spine and hip.

    I was given the option of more hormone treatment and chemo which my oncologist did not recommend, and hospice care which is what I chose.
    You are probably a long way from being accepted into hospice care so you must decide if you want more treatment or not and that is something only you can decide for yourself and I wish you the very best and total success with that decision.
  • VascodaGama
    VascodaGama Member Posts: 3,649 Member
    #3
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    Doctoro; 2nd-Line HT is Restricted in certain risky patients
    Hi Doctoro,
    Welcome to the board. Thanks for posting about your long “affair” with the cancer. If I read properly your post, you are one of the few that had salvage radiation therapy (2007) from a prime radiation treatment in 2000.

    After the typical hormonal therapy (Lupron and Casodex) your cancer may have become refractory. This is when cancer cells are not dependent on testosterone to survive anymore and start feeding on other sources including the anti-androgen drugs (yours Casodex). To confirm that, through a blood test, your testosterone level should be lower than 50 ng/ml and your PSA should be increasing (which is your present case). Hormone-refractory prostate cancer (HRPC) patients are required to withdraw from the hormonal drugs. That will lower immediately the PSA for a period of time. This is a status known as Anti-Androgen Withdrawal Response.
    AAWR patients (your case) have a choice of treatments of the so called “second line” hormonal therapy which incorporates Ketoconazole or an estrogen (DES) with immunologic therapy drugs or with chemo drugs.

    You should discuss with your specialized oncologist, details of your present health conditions (other than PCa) and about any medication being taken because all drugs to treat your case have side effects and are restricted in certain risky patients.
    There is an excellent book by Dr. Myers I recommend you to read for helping understanding your case.
    Hope this helps in your quest.

    I wish you a continuous success in your bumpy road.
    VGama
  • mattmans5
    mattmans5 Member Posts: 70
    #4
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    2ndBase said:

    Psa Rising
    From your psa numbers alone it seems the hormone therapy is not going to bring your psa number down to a level that will make anyone happy. I am in hospice care now with a psa in the thousands or higher and was at your level about 3 years ago. I am only 59 years old and that is a disadvantage as my cancer probably is much more aggressive than yours as getting older should slow the process.

    The fact that nothing shows on a bone scan is not surprising as tumors need to be pretty large to really show up on such tests. My last test in May which was basically just an Xray however showed many of my tumors and by now they can be seen from with the naked eye as bulges from my spine and hip.

    I was given the option of more hormone treatment and chemo which my oncologist did not recommend, and hospice care which is what I chose.
    You are probably a long way from being accepted into hospice care so you must decide if you want more treatment or not and that is something only you can decide for yourself and I wish you the very best and total success with that decision.

    2nd base
    I am also a yankee fan, raed your post and wish you the best your in your in my prayers .

    will look for your posts and like you will be watching the yankees make it to the world series again

    joe

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