Husband has been on chemo/taxotere since July, 2015. He has tolerated it quite well and it seems to have kept his condition stable without progression, but the lowest his PSA has gotten, after a high of 115, is in the 40 range. He is also taking Eligard and Zometa and prednisone. After stretching out his chemo appointments last month to 5 weeks instead of 3 (due to vacation plans), he saw a sharp increase in PSA of 20 pts. Has another appt. next week to check on the PSA again. We may have to face the possibility that the taxotere is no longer working. Husband is wondering what's the longest period of time a Pca patient on this message board has been on chemo. And what are his options going forward if the chemo has lost effectiveness? Thanks.
Anyone been on Taxotere longer than 1... - Advanced Prostate...
Anyone been on Taxotere longer than 10 months?
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I was on Taxotere for eight sessions. Dealt with it well. But only the first four sessions were effective on my PSA number and I stopped Kemo after the eighth session. Coming off of Prednisone was a whole different story! Right now I am on Xtandi, so far so good.
-Mike
Seven rounds of taxotere but PSA never got below 12 and was up past 30 after seven rounds, so stopped. Started Provenge and Xtandi immediately but PSA is still 32 after two months. Was diagnosed last year with initial PSA 2700.
Wow, I am surprised that your doctor put you on Provenge to begin with! It never worked on me, plus it is recommended for the early stage. What is you plan to combat PSA 2700 now?
Thanks
-Mike
PSA is still around 30. If Xtandi doesn't bring PSA down at all, will consider Xofigo, but pain isn't bad at this point. Since progression of bone mets on PET scan was seen throughout Taxotere treatment, we will probably not reintroduce chemo. Quality of life is important at the young age of 45 too😕
diagnosed 10 years ago with metastatic prostate cancer -Gleeson 4 + $ and PSA 24 -received Eligard since and last year 9 infusions of taxotere -PSA dropped from 35 to 1.3 -faitigue main problem -having a rest from chemo and PSA rising now 11 -seeing Oncologist in 2 weeks -live in Australia -my options are have another round of taxotere -or change to cabazotaxel or change to Zytiga -my attitude is to do the chemo when you are relatively fit and healthy not when you are unwell
Ian
I had 10 cycles of docetaxel from May through November last year, then took a 3 month break. Tumors shrank on chemo, but PSA was stable around 1200 until the last couple of cycles. Declined to 850 early in break, then increased to 1467 when I restarted docetaxel two weeks ago. We plan to rescan after 3 more cycles, then decide next steps, which could include cabazataxel, perhaps with a platinum based chemo or a clinical trial. My doc evaluates how I feel, scans, and PSA, with the PSA perhaps the least significant metric unless it is increasing significantly.
In response to your question about possible next steps without your providing a list of other treatments he has had all I can do is tell you what the other possibilities are, assuming that he has not already gone through these drugs. The possibilities include:
Xtandi, Zytiga, Jevtana and switching from Eligard to Firmagon. If he does stop the chemotherapy (docetaxel) and goes to one or two of these other drugs he could go back to the docetaxel, in some instances he could see a positive effect again.
Joel
Sorry I didn't include that info. He tried Xtandi, but derived no benefit from it after a few months. Never tried Zytiga, but it was our understanding that if you fail Xtandi, you'll probably also fail Zytiga. Why Firmagon over Eligard?
Failing either Xtandi or Zytiga does seem to develop a cross resistance to the other drug, but that does not mean that everyone develops the resistance or that if there is resistance that the drug will not work at all, just not as well or as long as it might otherwise.
There is Some Cross Resistance Developed Between Both the First Use of Zytiga and the First Use of Xtandi at:
advancedprostatecancer.net/...
Firmagon has a different mode of action than does Eligard. I am not aware of any studies that show that when one stops working the other still does, but I do know a few men who have changed over and had a positive effect. Trying to be creative here and think out of the box.
Joel
I have been on Taxotere on & off for 5 years. It has been effective up 'til now, so I am told, because I carry the TP53 gene. After taxotere. I plan to go the Jevtana.
Bob
Thanks for the info, ardeee. 23 chemo treatments! Wow, that's a lot! We're hoping Jim can get benefit from more than his 9 rounds so far. See Onc. this Friday to recheck PSA.