Anyone been on Taxotere longer than 10 months?

[jmatson]

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.

[mshariff]

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

[Panthava in reply to mshariff]

Hi Mike, Thanks for sharing your experience. My father had an issue last time when he had to stop prednisone. He is currently having another round of chemo and I am worried when he has to stop them again. What advice can you give when stopping prednisone .

Thanks

[Cancersucks]

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.

[mshariff in reply to Cancersucks]

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

[Cancersucks in reply to mshariff]

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😕

[mshariff in reply to Cancersucks]

I went through Xofigo last year. Good for pain, but does not help with PSA. As a matter of fact I developed cancerous soft tissue on my spine and stopped Xofigo and went for radiation.

[bryson43]

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

[Gecrellin]

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.

[JoelT]

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

[jmatson in reply to JoelT]

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?

[JoelT in reply to jmatson]

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

[jmatson in reply to JoelT]

Thanks for your thoughts, Joel.  Any opinion on adding Metformin to the mix?

[takecharge]

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

[JoelT in reply to takecharge]

God luck with the Jevtana, it is an effective drug and will hopefully last as long or longer than the Tax

Joel

[takecharge in reply to JoelT]

Thanks, Joel! Bob

[jmatson]

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.