When I had my prostate cancer recurrence it was characterized by a PSA in the mid 80s and a few positive lymph nodes showing on scans. My situation (oligo-recurrent prostate cancer) was described in a recent literature review called Salvage Therapy of Small Volume Prostate Cancer Nodal Failures: A Review of the Literature. The review [...]
My post to this blog that was written yesterday indicated that for certain men the early use of chemotherapy (docetaxil) could provide significant life extending benefits, especially for men with very advanced prostate cancer. For the purpose of clarification, in this case early use means in men who are still hormone responsive. Given that chemotherapy [...]
When I was first diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer one of the first questions that I asked my doctor was whether it made sense for me to start chemotherapy immediately. I very clearly remember him telling me that there was absolutely no evidence that starting chemotherapy at this early stage would do anything to extend [...]
Men initially diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer often face a serious question, whether traditional primary treatments that would remove or make smaller their primary tumor (“debulking” the tumor) provide any advantage or extend their survival. Since the most commonly used method to debulk tumors is surgery or radiation the question becomes if the risks of [...]
Fail First Therapy or Step Therapy has been a topic I have written about in prior posts. It is my considered opinion that as it works its way into the treatment protocols for advanced prostate cancer it will have nothing but a very negative result for our health and longevity. What is Fail First Therapy [...]
I was lucky enough to have a consultant here in the UK who was able to get me Enzalutamide (Xyandi) on a compassionate use basis. It worked well for some six months for which I am very thankful but I suffered from an unusual, though listed, side effect. Apart from fatigue, which seems to be [...]
I was diagnosed with Stage 4 prostate cancer in November of 2008. After discussing the options with my family, I decided to try clinical trials instead of following the standard course of treatment. My first clinical trial combined 6 rounds of chemotherapy with the standard hormone replacement therapy (editors note – ADT). This trial was [...]
Now that Radium-223 Dichloride (Xofigo) has been approved by the FDA for use in men with castrate resistant prostate cancer with bone metastases we will begin to see the actual treatments happening. The next question in the process that will arise is whether or not it is safe and effective to re-treat an individual with [...]
Those of us with advanced prostate cancer who have used hormone therapy (ADT) often find that we are plagued with hot flashes that are detrimental to our quality of life (QOL). I believe that hot flashes are the most common side effect complained about by men who are on ADT, in the scheme of seriousness [...]
The makers of Enzalutamide (Xtandi), Astellas Pharma US, Inc and Medivation, Inc have begun a Phase 4 clinical trial known as PLATO. The study is designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of continued treatment with enzalutamide (Xtandi) plus abiraterone acetate (Zytiga) and prednisone as compared to treatment with Zytiga and prednisone alone in men [...]
