Statins and prostate cancer

[Schwah]

Does anyone have any info on the benefits and/or detriments of taking statins if you have advanced prostate cancer ?

Schwah

[pjoshea13]

Srr an old post of mine:

healthunlocked.com/advanced...

-Patrick

[Canoehead in reply to pjoshea13]

Atorvastatin, Metformin, Mebendazole and Doxycycline are the 4 drugs in the Care protocol, that has had some discussion here lately. So i’m Guessing quite a few of us are already taking two of these four. One caution, statins can be tough on the liver, and my MO suspended my use of Atorvastatin (Lipitor) when my Zytiga was causing my liver enzymes to go up. So I was in a quandary - Lipitor, Zytiga and alcohol - my liver could only tolerate 2 out of the 3.

[mcp1941 in reply to Canoehead]

When Dr. Myers started me on Zytiga he also changed my statin from Lipitor to Crestor. Dr. Myers said that Crestor is the only statin that you can take when on Zytiga.

[Schwah in reply to mcp1941]

Did he say why only Lipitor ?

[jdm3 in reply to mcp1941]

Can you elaborate on this? Why Crestor is the only statin to take while on Zytiga? I am on a low-dose simvastatin and just started Zytiga and Pred. Thanks.

[mcp1941 in reply to jdm3]

I'm in the dark about that.

[Karmaji in reply to Canoehead]

Do not let good glass red wine or provence rosé

[snoraste]

The uptick in liver enzymes when starting on Zytiga maybe temporary. I had it and it went away. Gregg57 has a post that discusses this early “flare” and that is in fact a positive response prognostic.

I have been taking Metformin/Lipitor with little side effects so far for the past 6months.

[Grumpyswife in reply to snoraste]

This is interesting and timely as my husband has been on Atorvastatin 10 mg for a year. I read here the preferred statin is Simovastin but at a higher dose which might be problematic.

Hubby started Xtandi 7 months ago and added Metformin a month ago off label. His PSA yesterday was up slightly from 6.62 to 6.68 but taken at different labs.

I noticed his liver enzymes yesterday were wackier then previous. His cbc is always anemic but looks slightly worse this time so I was thinking of upping the B12. He is elderly but I read there might be an issue with B12 and Metformin.

Any opinions appreciated.

[Hidden in reply to Grumpyswife]

I take omeprazole (acid reducer) for GERD (acid reflux) due to hiatal hernia. I had terrible problems with heartburn when I tried simvastatin -- it seemed to cancel out the action of the omeprazole. Switched to atorvastatin (lipitor) and my heartburn problem went away.

[Tall_Allen]

If it's low dose and there are no side effects, I haven't seen any detriments.

[Karmaji in reply to Tall_Allen]

Do u have any advice on COC cocktail...

Is it faith healing or their is some clinical support

[Tall_Allen in reply to Karmaji]

There is pre-clinical support for some of the ingredients. I don't know of any clinical trial results of mebendazole or doxycycline for prostate cancer. I think you should monitor liver function if you take mebendazole. There was a clinical trial at UW Seattle for a different antihelminthic, niclosamide, which could not find an effective dose. Another clinical trial has begun at UCDavis.

[Litlerny]

Statins probably pose no detrimental effects. I have been on statins for many years (currently simvastatin) unrelated to my PCa, and prior to my Stage 4 diagnosis in May, 2015. Please note that I can only speak for myself, and my own case, so don’t take this as a generalization, but being on statins did not prevent me from being Stage 4 at the time of my PCa diagnosis. I’m hoping they work synergistically with the ADT drugs, and as an adjunct to to ADT, will help keep my PCa progression in check. They have kept cholesterol numbers WNL for years, so if that helps slow the progression of my cancer, I’m good with it.

[Break60]

I’ve been on rosuvastatin (Crestor) for 15 years due to genetic disposition to produce excessive chloresterol . It’s worked great for me as C is 156. Not sure what it does for PCa but my RO was happy I was taking it. I’m also on Metformin and celecoxib, vitamin D3 and calcium.

Bob

[abmicro]

It is easy to forget other health issues when you are in a cancer battle. Beware of your general health. You are going to fight a long battle with cancer with long remissions, so you need to keep your general health strong enough to outlast your cancer.

Statins are essential part of your care because prostate cancer drugs will make your cholesterol levels worse, and if you gain weight / FAT from ADT hormone starvation, you put your heart at risk.

I was a Dr Myers patient for a while and he had me on simvastatin, vit D 5000 iu, Urosodiol for liver protection because past liver problems, Metformin to control sugar, an aspirin to thin my blood, and xgeva to protect me from bone loss. I continue to take these to control my general health issues, heart, bone density, liver, and sugar levels. (I saw that comment about crestor and zytiga, and I may ask my current family dr to switch me to crestor if I decide to do zytiga rechallenge after chemo)

Most other oncology doctors do not touch general health issues. If you challenge that doctor on your other health issues, he will say that is a "family dr issue" and you need to make an appointment with him.

[Karmaji in reply to abmicro]

That is true...

Family doc has little knowledge of prostate protocols...and he shows no interest unless you ask him to prescribe and he will do it