Greetings
Hoping I can add something and at the same time learn something.
53 years old. Diagnosed at 50 with PSA of 344 and in the lymph nodes. Visit MD Anderson every year now for scans and visit with doctor. Started Casodex and Lupron shots. PSA dropped to undetectable after initial lupron and casodex for 3 years. Underwent Proton in August of last year. 44 treatments. PSA has slowly began to go upwards. December was .14. April at MD Anderson it was .8. In May it had risen to 1.1. Doctors want to wait and see. No problems with the scans. No answer as to why either. Anyone care to chime in?
Living with Lupron
(6 posts) (2 voices)-
Posted 11 months ago #
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Thanks for your post. My first question is, after three years, are you still on Lupron? on Casodex? or both? If you have gone off both of those, it would be helpful to learn when you went off each. If you have gone off both before the December reading, it is not surprising that your PSA is increasing; that is to be expected when you go off Lupron. May I add that the fact that you had a PSA of 344 with prostate cancer having spread to the lymph nodes and the Lupron knocked it to undectable on the first shot shows just how powerful a weapon in dealing with prostate cancer Lupron is. The fact that you were eventually able to undergo proton therapy is another indication of how well the Lupron dealt with the cancer. I look forward to hearing from you.
Posted 11 months ago # -
Thanks for the reply. Still on Casodex and Lupron. Doctors have said that we may go intermittent in the near future. Just a little confused as to why the PSA is ticking upward. Doctor had mentioned that symptons do begin to show up in people at the PSA 15-20 range. I had no symptons at 344. Thanks for the reply. Just looking for opinions.
Posted 11 months ago # -
Since you are still on leuprolide (Lupron) and Casodex, one possible explanation your PSA is ticking up gradually is that there may be cancer cells that are immune to Lupron and hormone therapy. That may be what is causing the gradual increase of your PSA. Without seeing your chart, however, it's not possible to be definitive.
You say that the doctors may go intermittent in the near future. One reason doctors consider Intermittent Hormone Therapy (IHT) as a possible treatment is when they believe that cancer cells may be present that are immune to hormone therapy. We'll call them "Immune From Hormone Therapy" cells or IFHT cells. You probably know that a theory behind IHT is that stopping hormone therapy for awhile will slow down or stop the growth of IFHT cells and even make them die out to be replaced by cancer cells that are stopped by hormone therapy. If that happens, the PSA will increase. The articles I have read on IHT suggest allowing the PSA to increase to about 10, whereupon hormone therapy would resume, driving the PSA back down to near zero --- near zero because there aren't any more IFHT cells to prop the PSA up, and the leuprolide is doing its work. You would then remain on hormones until the PSA starts creeping up, and then you go off hormones as the process repeats itself. I finished proton therapy this past January, but I am on a 24 month regimen of leuprolide myself (nothing intermittent about that), due primarily to my Gleason score of 9. I go off leuprolide in August, 2012. Hope this helps. If I find anything else, I will let you know. Good luck! LUPRON LEGIONNAIRE DAVEPosted 11 months ago # -
LUPRON LEGIONNAIRE DAVE has one question of aspen4: What was your Gleason Score at the time of diagnosis?
Posted 11 months ago # -
4+3 and 3+4. About even steven from cores taken.
Thanks for taking the time to answer. I do think the doctors have a good plan ahead for me with intermittent.Posted 11 months ago # -
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Posted 2 months ago #
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