Provenge is the only FDA-approved immunotherapy. Medicare covers it for men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. There are other immunotherapies in clinical trials. If you have had distant metastases, you should be seeing a medical oncologist rather than a urologist.

Provenge is a wonderful treatment. It, like all Prostate cancer therapies, does not work for everyone. Provenge works very well for some people. I am one of those people. Dendreon offers a patient assistance program. Feel free to email me if you would like more information. You can also read my most recent post on the other Provenge thread

Why would you not get a second and third opinion.

If you don't assert that right now, how will you ever assert it later.

Seems to me that there is some form of grooming occuring.

ok i just finished my treatments with provenge. the bill ( not sure if the cost was for the first treatment or all three). 74,000 and i paid 0 u didn't state what treatments u been through so far,what your psa score is,how long have u been treating your cancer. my personal thinking with oncologists to me or maintenance that's all. mine is a specialist in breast cancer not prostrate cancer.

Medicine is very specialized today. You will (if not now) at some time need to see an oncologist and a radiologist. I do get my Xgeva shot from my Urologist.

The Patient Access Network can help with Provenge expenses. I went though this and did not pay that much. You urologist should be able to get you through the paper work and find out if you qualify. The

Provenge is being pushed HARD because the patent is expiring. At an AVERAGE 4 month increase in life expectancy, it is the least effective standard of care. There are serious questions about whether the drugs required for apheresis actually decreased life expectancy for some patients. It sounds great, because there are few medical side effects, but the cost, scheduling apheresis and injections, and that it on average doesn't work (think of it this way, if the average is 4 months ...what's the most effective it was?) made it a NOPE for us. And I'm really glad we passed on it....because Degerelix and Zytiga have now eliminated the prostate tumor and we're now going to address the two remaining bone mets in what WAS being treated as....untreatable. Third opinion got us there, and two oncologists at different hospitals that dont mind working together. Good doctors don't mind you getting information from other doctors (quack remedies and the internet. .maybe..). Best wishes to you!

Big red flag when you are told to drop your previous providers and seek care only from one. You need to know his credentials, training and expertise. I would seek an opinion from a urologic oncologist, usually found at a major medical center.

Provenge did not work for me, it took a lot of time and some reactions. All the cost was born by Medicare. My cancer had already changed cell type so I have moved on to other therapy.

If you want to learn more about Provenge I suggest that you read the three blog posts on the Cancer ABCs web page:

Joel

A doctor supporter of Provenge pointed out that the cost for Provenge is a one time total of ~100k with few side effects. Compare this to ongoing cost of Xtandi or Zytiga with lots of SEs which add about the same number of months of survival. He made Provenge seem like a bargain but other than still standing there is no way to measure response. Dendreon is not following up and neither was the doc as there is no way to know what other treatments patients received.

About 13 years ago I had the "pleasure" of doing a full month of 5 per week high-dose adjuvant Interferon after the resection of a significant and rare type of melanoma. Some of the side effects I felt during that treatment (probably involving regulatory T cells) were eerily similar to what I felt during the week after each of my Provenge infusions in 2016. For whatever it's worth, it certainly "felt" like my body's immune reactions were kicked up a notch. Hopefully, it "took" enough for some continuing benefits down the road. I'd do it again.

Thanks to those who responded to my inquiry about Provenge. I definitely appreciated DenDoc's comment about the red flag raised by the doctor telling me to drop previous providers and seek care only from one. Others have told me the same.

So...I went back to my Oncologist and we discussed the situation. To the point of the red flag, he said "Urologists don't play well together in the sand box." He reviewed my case again and said that chemo is likely to be the best bet, but that I was in charge and he would wait for my decision on it. I liked that.

My only concern now is the side effects of the chemo, hair loss and fatigue being the 'biggies'; the former is no big deal and neither is the latter, but I teach part-time [2 classes on Monday and Wednesday] at a community college and asked if he thought I would likely be in good enough shape after chemo on a Thursday to go to classes on the following Monday. He said it's likely I could handle that.

Of course, he can't say for sure about side effects, but I gather that I'll also be getting drugs that take care of much of it.

Does that sound right? And of those who have had the chemo, I'd like to know what I don't know.

Here are my details: My last PSA was 20. I'm currently getting Eligard (Lupron) injections every six months, Xgeva every other month, and as mentioned, likely to start Taxotere [Docetaxel] in the next month or so.