Hello all,
My doctor recently recommended that I consider starting Lipitor. My current cancer meds are casodex and lupron. Has anyone have any positive, negative reactions with Lipitor. I'm in the metastatic phase of my battle, mets to bone, a few enlarged lymph nodes. I'm getting some information that a statin med might actually help slow my cancers growth. Opinions? Thanks!
I have been taking Lipitor for years for Cholesterol. Last June I started taking Zytiga. So far no issues. I have also read that it could have some positive effects on PC.
thanks for the reply.
patandemma@nameles9999
I've been on Crestor 10 mg daily for 3 months since 6 weeks after chemo ONLY because of possible benefit in prostate cancer.
Crestor was chosen by my primary because it does not cross the blood brain barrier. This may have less effect on neurocognitive decline,a concern/hypothesis that has been raised about other statins and one I was very concerned about
No myopathy,no liver abnormalities so far after 3 months so unlikely to develop now.
Can't think of any way I feel differently since starting so I've ducked side effects ,I think
Thank you! this is just the information I have been looking for.
I've been on Simvastatin since before I got PC. I got lots of exercise & ate a good diet for an American guy, wasn't overweight, drank a beer a day, & although none of it kept me from getting PC (advanced because my doctor never told me about PSA tests), maybe it's helped me live with PC for a whole lot longer than oncologists predicted.
From what I've read, statins are worth taking if you have PC. But this is interesting to read that switching to Crestor may protect my poor brain from degradation. Seems like I read an argument for another statin recently, by Patrick maybe, that I wanted to find again.
Any other ideas on the best statin for PC patients?
I couldn't tolerate Simvastatin. It aggravated my GERD / heartburn to the extent that it seemed like my omeprazole was having no effect. Switched to Atorvastatin (lipitor) and now life is good.
After reading that statins reduce the risk of developing prostate cancer, I regret that I starting taking lipitor only months before being diagnosed with cancer. I've been on eligard and casodex for a month and a half. No horrible side effects to report.
Went through all that. My question was and remains, has anyone had any experience with lupron AND a statin?
Have a similar situation, and my Lipitor and had no negative Side effects. Might have slight benefit in slowing the growth of cancer but it's not a certainty
Thank you for the reply.
Patandemma@Neal-Snyder
You asked about statins other than Crestor.
I read a piece by Dr Snuffy Myers favoring Livalo because it has been shown to interfere less with glucose regulation than other statins
It too is water soluble so probably does not cross blood brain barrier well
W/R cost: Crestor is available as a generic (rosuvastatin). Livalo (pitavastatin) is not
I decided to go with Crestor, for me it's $20.00 for a 90 supply.
Did your doc happen to mention the serious side effects of Lipitor. Like diabetes. I had cholesterol issues and was taking this med. So, I quit the drug, changed my diet up a bit, and presto, no high cholesterol.
I am mCRPC, on ADT and statin. No idea if the statin is doing anything. It's recommended. It's cheap. It's good for cardiovascular system they say. So ok. Eligard though, not Lupron.
I'm on double continuous ADT, Eligard 3-month shot and Casodex daily pill, for over 2.5 years now. Still keeping PSA undetectable!
Began Lipitor for cholesterol over 10 years ago, max dose 40 mg/day, and haven't had any problems. Generic Lipitor that I now take is Atorvastatin.
My clinical trial gets me an annual full physical and I have quarterly full blood tests. No trouble with this combo!
It's been a year since you posted this question and I trust you've already decided on using a statin. Weighing the possible side-effects of statins depends on the state of the cancer. I've been a patient for 21 years and have been remarkably fortunate given the advanced stage at diagnosis when I was age 48. I've been on and off Tx several times.
The science over the past several years has been mixed and somewhat inconclusive—often because of the way the research was structured, as in too many variables that masked any possible certainty. That said, there is a general agreement, it seems, among PCa oncologists including my own that taking statins in the presence of PCa is the right thing to do at the moment. Some statins may be better than others, but not a firm conclusion. If you are so inclined, read the most recent scientific papers online. Google Scholar and Researchgate are two places to begin. Use only the most recent studies; Meta-analyses are the best as they are reviews of many previous studies. Here is one I found today as I'm deciding on whether to up my statin dose or switch statins as I'm finally failing ADT including a Phase II study. Here is my note to myself: Hydrophyllic statins better for PCa – not simva but studies inconsistent ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...
I just joined this list serve a moment ago to respond to your post after coming across it by chance while doing my online research. I don't plan on being active here for a number of reasons, but hope this will be of some help.
Prostate Cancer and Statins
Metastatic prostate cancer 
prostate cancer metastatic
Metastatic Prostate Cancer
metastatic prostate cancer 
