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 [...]
It was announced today that after observing significant benefits in overall survival (OS) and radiographic progression free survival (PFS) ,the two co-primary endpoints of the the Xtandi pre-chemotherapy trial, the Independent Data Monitoring Committee (IDMC) for The Phase 3 PREVAIL trial of enzalutamide in metastatic prostate cancer recommends that "the study be stopped and patients [...]
Step therapy (ST) has again reared its most ugly head in our prostate cancer world, to the detriment of us, prostate cancer survivors and only to the benefit of private insurance payers. So, what is this “creeping crud,” Step Therapy (aka as Fail First Therapy)? Simply, ST is when insurance companies decide, without sound medical [...]
Today’s post will be a little admonishment of you, my loyal readers. So, please be open-minded and think about what I have to say to you. A number of months ago I mentioned the new prostate cancer research-funding project we have embarked upon, Start A Cure (www.StartACure.com). For those of you who might have missed [...]
On the advanced prostate cancer online support group there have been some questions raised about how we know when drugs like Zytiga and Xtandi have stopped working. Knowing this as soon as possible is important so that you can quickly move on to the next treatment without giving the prostate cancer time to progress and [...]
We have many new drugs that have been recently approved to treat advanced prostate cancer. Two of these drugs are abiraterone (Zytiga) and enzalutamide (Xtandi). These drugs offer new hope to men with advanced prostate cancer after the cancer has become resistant to hormone therapies (called "castration-resistant prostate cancer"). These drugs are a real breakthrough, [...]
The first line of treatment for advanced prostate cancer is Androgen (male hormone) Deprivation Therapy or ADT. Once the PSA progresses (climbs) while still on ADT and with testosterone levels
Dr. Nima Sharifi from the Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner Research Institute has claimed to have identified a genetic mutation in one of the deadliest forms of prostate cancer. His finding, published online today in the journal Cell, shows that there is a mutation that occurs in an enzyme that is present in a drug resistant form [...]
Some good news for my neighbors immediately to my north. Enzalutamide (Xtandi) has received Health Canada's approval for the treatment of metastatic castration-resistand advanced prostate cancer in the post chemotherapy phase. This means that any man with castrate resistant prostate cancer, once they have received taxotere can now get Xtandi. Xtandi works by being a [...]
