Just started Cabazitaxel / Jevtana

[MrJack]

Ok, my Chemo drug #1 Taxotere has stopped be effective and I am now sick all the time even between cycles so we thought it best to switch to chemo drug #2 Cabazitaxel / Jevtana

I just took my first dose two hours ago, we will see what happens, this is my 8th cycle of chemo, I had a 6mos run with Taxotere, now we will see what happens with this new drug

once Jevtana no longer works, then it is on to experimental territory , my Onc doc mentioned, revisiting a couple of the previous ADT/HT type drugs, maybe some we didn't try or some of the ones we already tried like Zytiga or something like that drug.

feels like I'm running out of tricks here.

how have you guys been doing on Chemo ?

[Gecrellin]

I've been where you are. I had 13 cycles of docetaxel before it stopped working. Then we tried Jetvana, but stopped it after 3 cycles. Moved on to a combination of docetaxel and Carboplatin for 6 more cycles. Right now I'm on bipolar androgen therapy, and my docs gave mentioned a couple of trials I can consider. My point is, there are more options out there depending on how your body tolerates treatments. Mine has endured everything so far with virtually no side effects. I'm 4 years post diagnosis and still feeling well and keeping active. Best wishes for your battle!

[MrJack in reply to Gecrellin]

I'm about seven years out from my diagnosis it's kinda funny I remember asking the doctors for just tem more years, I just might get my wish in three years.

I told my Onc Doc about the bipolar treatment but I might have explained it wrong, I thought it was 1,rceiveing a dose of testosterone and then a dose of some ADT/HT

drug like xtandi or something then he gave me a "you dummy" look that don't make sense. but you mention bipolar as just being two different chemicals, I will ask him again and check that out.

[Gecrellin in reply to MrJack]

I get a massive dose of testosterone once a month. Meanwhile, I am on Lupron which brings the testosterone back down quickly. The original studies were done at Johns Hopkins. They probably have another trial currently, and I know that Seattle Cancer Care/Fred Hutchinson/University of Washington does. I'm not on any other cancer drugs at the moment. Sorry if I confused you.

[Lombardi24 in reply to Gecrellin]

Gecrellin. Howe is the bipolar androgen therapy working? Is this where you get mega doses of testosterone every 28 days or so while still on Lupron? I am going on my 3rd year. Have burned through most of the treatments available except 2. I am 57...and healthy otherwise. My mets are confined to the pelvic area so far. I fear that they will spread now that the ADT therapy no longer works.

[Gecrellin in reply to Lombardi24]

I'm only in my second cycle, but it seems to be working and side effects are generally minimal. Good luck.

[Lombardi24 in reply to Gecrellin]

Thx

[Cancer09]

Everyone reacts different to these meds ..my husband needed IV fluids for 2-3 days after each jevtana treatment ..powerful treatment ..

[JoelT]

Bi-polar Androgen Therapy (BAT) is still very experimental. There is currently a clinical trial using BAT that you might want to consider.

For information go to:

clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show...

BAT should not be done outside of a supervised trial.

Joel

[Lombardi24 in reply to JoelT]

If you have been treated with Docetaxel you don't qualify. I tried...was denied.

[MrJack in reply to Lombardi24]

oh, there are a lot of conditions, but there are a lot of trials

[MrJack in reply to JoelT]

my Onc Doc can only give me " standard treatment " right now he explained that after all standard treatments have failed, then he will find me a clinical trial, after he tries a couple other tricks.

[sfboy58]

I just started cabazitaxel with carboplatin. No major side effects so far, just fatigue that begins about four days after treatment and lasts from 3-5 days. I have failed docetaxel, zytiga and xtandi. I still feel pretty good, Exercise everyday and keep an active lifestyle. Jogging 3.7 miles four times a week. My next drug after chemo is raduim-223, but my hemoglobin is currently below 10 which would disqualify me from taking this treatment. My PSA has been a steady 3000 since November 2016. I have a lot of bone mets, but no pain. I have been fighting this disease since 2002 and plan to keep fighting.

[anya6 in reply to sfboy58]

I've read there is a limit to how much a psa score can tell you even though my father's doctor says it's indicative of tumor and bone status. Would you mind sharing your gleason score? When you said you failed those drugs, did they fail to bring down your psa after awhile or at all?

[sfboy58 in reply to anya6]

My gleason score was 4+3=7. After I had my prostate removed in 2002 and salvage radiation in 2003 my PSA was undetectable for two years. Then it began to rise slowly with a 12-18 month doubling time. In late 2012 it made a big jump and that is when I started treatments. Lupron brought my PSA to 0.2 and was effective for only 6 months before my PSA began to rise. Both zytiga and xtandi only reduced my PSA slightly and lasted 3 to 4 months before it started to rise. I went on several clinical trials that kept my PSA in check. After the PSA gets over 500 or so, the doctors use scans to determine if the cancer is spreading and pretty much ignore the PSA unless it makes a huge change in either direction.

[MrJack in reply to sfboy58]

Ok, thanks for your response, my Gleason was also 4+3 in 2011 had robotic surgery and respond well to all medicines initially Lupron has helped me for about six years , zytiga and xtandi about a year and now chemo six months so far, probably will get six months on the new drug so I will be looking for a clinical trial in about a year I figure, but that is a funny business because some clinical trials don't want you if you have had certain types of treatments already as you can understand, so the ones that are available for someone who has tried everything are slim pickings, the only thing I have not had is radiation.

[Lombardi24 in reply to sfboy58]

My PSA doubles within two months following chemo or radiation and eventually (within months) of starting any ADT treatment. Crazy aggressive.

[Cancer09 in reply to sfboy58]

My husbands hgb was very low too from all the chemo ..they transfused him with 2 units of RBC s and he was above 10 and he had the xofigo ..

[Pennysue1]

Mr jack - let us know how jevtana works for you - does medicare approve that? My husband has tried a lot of things too - good luck to you - we will be praying for you.

[MrJack in reply to Pennysue1]

Hi, I have Kaiser as my HMO, I pay a small deductible for an office visit, low payments and I get all standard care and procedures, things that are not considered standard are hard to get, and you have to be an advocate for your self and fight for yourself.

keep up the fight

[MrJack]

Yes this is day 1, on Jevtana 14 hours in it feels like the other chemo so far I don't feel too bad, a little warm and flush in the face, but not too bad. I will do the best I can, I would like to squeeze three more years out of this tired life of mine before I go, iv been fighting since 2011

I will get back to you later with an update.

[edd1717]

Am sorry your,chemo. I,choose not to was diagnosed 1 year ago. I researched on the internet and found incredibke info about cancee. The truth about,cancer the world global a scare. You need to check it out. Went to chipas hospital on tijauna. I was,detoxed and started their gerson program.when i vame back from mexico my oncologist was mad at me and said its,obvious your in good health see u in 8 months for another biopsy im gonna,do yhe,fusion type.still in good health.good luck sir.

[AlanMeyer in reply to edd1717]

Ed,

Can you tell us your PSA and Gleason score (and any other info you had from your biopsy, e.g., how many cores had cancer, and what the staging was) before your trip to Mexico and what your PSA numbers were afterward?

Thanks.

Alan

[MrJack]

iv had people tell me I should take my life too, and that would cure all my problems, I am limited to what is available for doctors and treatments, so I take what I have and do standard treatment

I know I am dying there is no cure for prostate cancer like mint, stage 4 with metastatic tumor all over my body, I am just waiting to die, I have to accept that.

[Cancer09 in reply to MrJack]

Never give up hope ..hope is the cure ..I pray someday there is a cure for those who are fighting for life

[MrJack in reply to Cancer09]

not giving up yet !

[AlanMeyer in reply to MrJack]

MrJack,

When it's my time, if I see it coming and aren't run over suddenly by a bus, there are things I want to do. I'm not talking about a bucket list. I've had plenty of good times. But there are things I want to do for my wife and children and grandchildren.

I'll go through the practical things about the house and our savings and any last wishes I have, but mainly I want to go through the family memories. I want to write things down for them, tell them what I know about their grandparents and great-grandparents, tell them about my childhood, tell them how I met their mother and how I fell in love with her, go through the family photos with them and write down who is in the photos that they wouldn't know but might like to, and tell them how much I love all of them. I might make a sound or video recording. I want to record things in writing or in digital form so that they can survive the fading memories that all of us are subject to.

This is for them, but it's also for me. I like the idea that my history and the family history can continue after me. I like the idea that my offspring will have this information and this history as part of their lives.

Maybe these ideas will be useful to you. I hope so. I hope that each of us can find good and meaningful things to do even when our time is short.

Best of luck.

Alan

[MrJack in reply to AlanMeyer]

thanks

[Cancer09 in reply to AlanMeyer]

Please complete your wish ..what a wonderful gift to your family