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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Based on six recent retrospective analyses comparing the gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) antagonist degarelix against the traditional luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) agonists (i.e. Zoladex, Lupron etc.) men with advanced prostate cancer experienced improved disease control, fewer instances of urinary infections, and a lower risk of cardiovascular events. The six analyses compared data from randomized trials that [...]
The number of cancer survivors is increasing, soon to be as many of 13 million of us in the world! Bones are often affected in cancer survivors, usually a result of bone metastases, or of anti-cancer therapies which can contribute to bone loss and fragility. Bone disease in cancer survivors can result both from the [...]
It is generally agreed that prostate cancer which is still 100% confined to the prostate gland is curable using local therapies like radiation or surgery, but when it has left the prostate gland and becomes metastatic it is no longer curable. Treatment for metastatic prostate cancer is intended to make the prostate cancer a chronic [...]
Zytiga (abiraterone acetate) and Ketoconazole (keto) are both widely used in prostate cancer therapy to treat men with advanced prostate cancer. They both have a common mechanism of action, they both work by inhibiting the enzyme CYP17 that is responsible for androgen biosynthesis (creation). Inhibiting CYP17 lowers testosterone levels, which results in prostate cancer tumor regression. Because [...]
Researchers at Johns Hopkins has concluded that metastasis-free survival appeared to independently predictor of overall survival (OS) in men with recurrent prostate cancer who underwent androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) after developing metastases. Men with biochemically recurrent prostate cancer (PSA only) tend to survive for long periods so the FDA gold standard for clinical trial endpoint [...]
