My father, 66 years old, Stage 4 and PSA 29 at diagnosis in July 2017 has recently received his routine blood test results (i.e. we are now a year on from diagnosis). He immediately went on Lupron and then had 6 cycles of Docetaxel in November/December 2017 and some radiation on the two significant mets on his spine. He also switched from Lupron to Transdermal Oestradiol (patches) as part of the STAMPEDE study in November 2017. I’m including his results below, firstly to get some general feedback (I’m of the opinion that they are pretty positive, particularly the time to PSA nadir), but I wondered if anyone could tell me what E2 refers to? It seems to fluctuate quite a lot. I’m pretty sure I know all the other acronyms and they all look to be good indicators that the treatment is working well. Thanks.
Aug-17 PSA: 29 ALP: 160
Aug-17 PSA: 2.7 ALP: 136
Sep-17 PSA: 1.2 ALP: 75 TES: <0.4 E2: 676
Oct-17 PSA: 0.4 ALP: 62
Oct-17 PSA: 0.2 ALP: 66 TES: <0.4 E2: 239
Nov-17 PSA: 0.2 ALP: 72 TES: <0.4 E2: 311
Dec-17 PSA: 0.2 ALP: 62 TES: <0.4 E2: 237
Feb-18 PSA: 0.2 ALP:59 TES: <0.4 E2: 566
May-18 PSA: 0.1 ALP: 52 TES: <0.4 E2: 614
Jul-18 PSA: <0.03 ALP: 44 TES: <0.4 E2: 403
Written by
Jlcwonderboy
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Wow! Great response to the estrogen patches! I know a lot of men eagerly await the results of this arm of the STAMPEDE trial. Your father has contributed a lot by participating.
I'm glad you think they are positive results - I thought so too, but its great to hear it from those better informed and more experienced. Aside from some slight skin irritation from the patches (and some gynecomastia) he has barely any side effects. Hot flashes are non-existent and he enjoys applying them himself without the need to go into the doctor for the injections - feels a bit more in control if that makes sense!
Here's hoping the PSA stays low for some time and that others can benefit from the patches in future.
Yes - it does make sense that he regains a sense of control from applying the patches. We desperately want to DO something. When the trial is over, tamoxifen (20 mg/day) may be able to reverse the gynecomastia. They probably don't want him taking it while he is on the trial. You may be interested in another thread where someone recommended a supplement that blocked the estrogen alpha receptor - again, the desperation to DO something...
I have been in this battle for six years (please see bio for complete treatment history).
While under care of Dr. Charles "Snuffy" Myers, he prescribed Vivelle dot estrogen patches way back in 2012, along with triple blockade. I changed them after 3 or 4 days, so 2/ week.
Next is a cautionary tale:
We had a trip to South African in September 2013, with 13 hour flights to and from. Had a series of scans (CT, MRI, and Bone) for PCa in October 2013 and they picked up multiple pulmonary emboli, which landed me in hospital for 8 days and I left taking warfarin and no more Vivelle dot! Located clot in right leg. Estrogen can cause blood clots--I had no symptoms and my life was probably saved by the scans. Long flight+cancer+estrogen=DVT and multiple PEs for me.
In case anyone was curious for an update (and I suppose for evidence of treatment success) I’m happy to provide more recent scores for my Dad.
Nov-19 = PSA: <0.03 ALP: 53 TES: <0.4 E2: 943
Feb-20 = PSA: <0.03 ALP: 48 TES: <0.4 E2: 1413
Clearly still seeing good results of the crucial markers (PSA and ALP) 2.5 years in. A good advert for early docetaxel and (in my opinion) the oestrogen patches
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