Start A Cure Research Project of the Day

A Simple and Novel Approach to Enhance the Efficacy of Intermittent Androgen Deprivation Therapy for Prostate Cancer Patients
There comes a time when most of us will go on to Androgen Deprivation Therapy (ADT). Depending upon your philosophy, your doctors philosophy and your numbers (Gleason grade and PSA) you might be able to go on intermittent ADT as opposed to continuous ADT.

Continuous ADT involves staying on therapy consistently, without a break no matter what your numbers and response while intermittent therapy allows a man to go on and off therapy depending upon the response as dictated by the numbers. There is some controversy as to the relative efficacy of these two styles of ADT as there is good research showing both being of equal efficacy and there is good research showing that continuous therapy is superior. What is clear is that intermittent therapy does have major positive effects for the feeling of well being, for me an important factor. As I have discussed in other posts I am on intermittent therapy.

The feelings of well being come during the “off cycles or vacation periods “ of the therapy regime. So the question being asked by this research project is if there might be ways to extend the off cycle periods.

Drs. Parikh, Wangand Appleman from the University of Pittsburgh want to raise funding that would allow them perform valuable research evaluating the use of Avodart or dutasteride during the “off cycles” of ADT to see if these “off sessions could lengthen the cycle allowing for additional benefits including fewer sexual side-effects, loss of bone density and muscle mass.

To read about this project and twenty others go to the crowd-funding site www.StartACure.com

Joel T Nowak, M.A., M.S.W.