At the University of New Mexico School of Medicine in Albuquerque, New Mexico (SKS) the Department of Urology just completed a study that showed that dutasteride, the generic name for a dual 5alpha-reductase inhibitor made by GlaxoSmithKline and marketed under the name Avodart™ in the US and Avolve™ in Europe, when administered to men with [...]
An informative and comprehensive analysis of existing research studies evaluating the merits of early vs. deferred commencement of hormone therapy in men with advanced prostate cancer was recently published. The analysis (Wilt T, Nair B, MacDonald R, Rutks I. Early versus deferred androgen suppression in the treatment of advanced prostatic cancer. Cochrane Database of Systematic [...]
Investigators have reported, at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiation and Oncology (ASTRO) 50th Annual Meeting, that when radiation is added to anti-androgen therapy (ADT), survival rates are increased by 50% in men receiving only ADT. "This randomized trial is the first to show that men with locally advanced prostate cancer will survive substantially longer [...]
Hair on a man's head offers clues about versatility of a molecule central to Advanced Prostate Cancer. Once again, those of us fighting advanced and recurrent prostate cancer are confronted with contradictory and confusing information. The usual first line treatment for advanced prostate cancer is hormone therapy (ADT). We all know that ADT is short [...]
I want to tell you about a man named Joel who started hormone therapy (ADT) and could not remember who he was, or were he lived. He was brought up in born in New York City and lived the majority of his life in the city. He never took taxis, but almost always relied on [...]
Yesterday I wrote about using Keto (HDK) along with HC as a secondary hormone suppressant after traditional hormone blockades have failed to work. The reviews of HDK has been mixed with some doctors shying away from it because of its potential liver toxicity issues. However, for many men fighting advanced prostate cancer HDK is an [...]
Ketoconazole (kee-ta-KOE-na-zol), generic name for Nizoral, is an oral drug approved by the FDA for the use to treat fungal infections. However, it has been shown that higher doses of ketoconazole (800-1200mg/day vs 200-400mg/day) also block the production of both free and bound testosterone. Since high-dose Ketoconazole (HDK) has testosterone lowering effects, operating both on [...]
Oh no, another not so very clear issue for men with prostate cancer has emerged! According to an article written by Tara Parker-Pope in the New York Times, bisphosphonates (i.e. Fosamax), has been reported, in some rare occasions, to actually cause weaker bones that lead to an unusual type of fracture of the femur. Bisphosphonates [...]
According to Philip M. Arlen, M.D., director of the Clinical Research Group for the Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Biology, Center for Cancer Research, at the National Cancer Institute, "Vaccines, if and when they are approved, can be safely and effectively combined with other therapies, including hormones. There appears to be an advantage in overall [...]
The use of ADT is the treatment of choice for advanced, metastatic prostate cancer as long as the cancer is responsive to the blockade. The theory goes that the suppression of circulating testosterone, which fuels prostate-cancer growth, whether by surgical castration (orchiectomy) or castration with testosterone-blocking drugs slows down the progression of the prostate cancer. [...]
