It is unfortunate, but some of us will approach a time when we know that the advanced prostate cancer we have been battling has gotten the better of us and will end our life in the near future. If we are admitted into the hospital we will be asked to sign a lot of papers [...]
Some mornings we just wake up to great news and today is one of those mornings. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has just announced that they have approved Zytiga (abiraterone acetate) for use prior to chemotherapy. - This FDA announcement is an expansion of their prior approved (April 2011) for the use of Zytiga [...]
The Early/Expanded Access Committee has been continuing to work on getting additional sites open for men with advanced prostate cancer to get access to the yet unapproved drug Radium-233 Chloride (Alapharadin). Due to the hard work of this committee there are now sites in seven different states. In order to qualify for this treatment you [...]
I have written much about the need to begin studies of both timing and combining of the many new treatments we have recently developed for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer. With the FDA approval of Provenge, Zytiga, Jevtana, Xtandi and hopefully in the near future Radium-223 Dichloride (Alpharadin) we have many new treatment options [...]
We all know that LHRH agonists are used for androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) cause a tremendous number of side effects, but it is not uncommon for our doctors to never discuss these potential side effects with us prior to starting therapy. Additionally, doctors neglect to offer alternative therapies that might accomplish the same results (like [...]
We are again looking at a potentially new block buster drug to treat men with advanced prostate cancer whose cancer has become castrate resistant. This potential drug seems to have clinical activity in both soft tissue and bone mets. This investigational drug is called Cabozantinib (XL184). It is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor with activity against [...]
A very common side effect of any cancer treatment including chemotherapy (docetaxil for men with advanced prostate cancer) and radiation is nausea. In addition to feelings of nausea many men also experience a feeling of fullness, a change in the way foods taste and strong heartburn. If you have this experience let your doctor know [...]
Once you have had primary treatment for prostate cancer you must continue to actively monitor your PSA until you die. There is no cure; at least you should never assume that you have been cured because 1/3 of all men who have treatment will have a recurrence. What treatment you have does not matter, statistically [...]
A very interesting article appeared in the Saturday, November 24, 2012 edition of the Washington Post. According to the article The New England Journal of Medicine which is among the most prestigious medical journal in the world regularly features articles over which pharmaceutical companies and their employees exert significant influence. The problem is simple, over [...]
I just cannot remember where I put my keys. What is my home telephone number? What is his name, you know the guy I sit next to everyday in the office? Sound familiar, maybe because you are on hormone deprivation therapy (ADT) to treat your advanced prostate cancer. This can explain why your normally intact [...]
