According to a 2004 paper by the doctors at Loma Linda, their study showed that patients with a post-proton PSA of 0.5 or less enjoyed a relatively high rate of "disease free survival" as that term is defined in the study. They did a lot better than patients whose post proton PSA's were 1.0 or higher. The study is called "Proton Therapy for Prostate Cancer: The Initial Loma Linda University Experience", its primary author is Jerry D. Slater, MD, and it can be downloaded off the internet for free in pdf. Nobody in the study used Lupron.
Just before I started proton therapy, my PSA had dropped from about 9 to a super-low PSA reading of 0.3 after only three months of Lupron use. My next PSA is in about 2 weeks, when I have my first check up. If the Lupron keeps my PSA below 0.5 over the next 17 months I am on it, then it's a real benefit, based on my reading of that Loma Linda study. Especially since I came in with a Gleason 7 and Gleason 9.
Does anyone have any further insight on this? Am I reading the study right?
DAVID