It is generally believed that combination hormone therapy (ADT 2, 3 or 4) is superior to mono-therapy (with just one drug). With this in mind researchers investigated the survival of hormone-naïve prostate cancer survivors diagnosed with prostate-specific antigen (PSA) over 500 ng/ml. They extracted data of prostate cancer survivors from the Japan Study Group of [...]
Yesterday I wrote about the cognitive effects of hormone therapy (ADT), today’s topic is about depression in men on ADT. It is commonly known that men on ADT often experience many physical and psychological side effects of the treatment. One of these side effects to ADT may be associated with increased risk for depression, but [...]
When I went on my first round of hormone therapy (ADT) I experienced severe cognitive side effects. I found it impossible to concentrate, read and remember anything. I lost the ability to navigate the New York City subways no less drive my car to a destination. Occasionally, when I was attempting to navigate the subway [...]
It is known that Zoledronic acid (ZA) reduces the risk of developing skeletal-related events (SRE) which are caused by bone metastasis in prostate cancer (PCa). ZA also improves the quality of life (QOL). ZA has become a standard supportive therapy for men with prostate cancer who have bone metastasis. The big unknown is when should [...]
Last April there was some preliminary data from the long-term Phase II STAND study presented at 29th Annual European Association of Urology (EAU) Congress that showed that sipuleucel-T (Provenge) when given after the start of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) seemed to enhance and sustain the immune response in men with a biochemical failure (PSA only) [...]
Popular culture tells us that primary androgen deprivation therapy with leuprorelin acetate (Lupron) will not work for longer than two years! This is a significant and very problematic statement given that all of us with metastatic prostate cancer rely on delaying the move to any other treatments, especially given their cost to the quality of [...]
Prostate cancer is commonly associated with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). The use of GnRH agonists or antagonists (first line ADT) is widely used as the primary treatment for advanced prostate cancer (pc) and/or to reduce prostate volume (TPV). It is thought that the ADT contributes to the development of LUTS. Researchers pooled multiple other [...]
Hormone therapy or Primary androgen deprivation therapy (PADT) is the usual first “go to” therapy for men when they are diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer whether it is a primary diagnosis or the result of a recurrence. The natural progression of the disease is to become unresponsive to the treatment (castrate resistant) leading to a [...]
In my continuing reports about interesting and pertinent information released at the ASCO 2014 meeting one abstract described a phase 2 trial combining an attack on androgens in metastatic prostate cancer resistant to initial hormone therapy. This proof of concept study showed that combining Enzalutamide (Xtandi) plus abiraterone (Zytiga) drove down testosterone levels and appeared [...]
Current practice has been to immediately begin hormone therapy (ADT) as soon as a man has a bio-chemical (PSA only) relapse. A recent presentation at ASCO 2014 has shown that immediate ADT actually offers little or no survival benefit over deferred ADT to advanced prostate cancer survivors who experience a PSA only relapse after radical [...]
