I'm a 79 year old first diagnosed in 2007 (Gleason 6) and treated then with radioactive seeds. PSA got as low as .21 in 2011 but in 2015 began a rapid rise. Multiple prostate biopsies and scans could not find the cancer until nodules in the lungs were considered suspicious and I started taking Casodex in June 2017. That brought my PSA down to single digits but mets in the sacrum appeared soon after. I started Lupron in Dec. 2017 and Zytiga and Prednisone in early 2018 when extensive spinal mets were evident in Nov. 2017 scan. There are no confirmed mets in my lungs or other organs.
My PSA dropped over the next few months to a nadir of .33 in Sept. but then started rising again to a present reading of .82. Scans done a week ago showed new mets in my spine and growth in some mets that were seen previously. I have felt pretty good from April/May of 2018 to this day.
My medical oncologist at the Wilmot Cancer Center in Rochester, NY has suggested that I have genetic testing to determine whether I would be eligible for a clinical study evaluating a PARP inhibitor called rucaparib. If I don't have the mutations, then he suggests chemo using docetaxel 75mg once every 3 weeks.
I'm considering getting a second opinion, probably at MSK, and would like recommendations for an oncologist there that I could seek out. I'd also be interested in hearing from anyone with a history similar to mine, especially if they took Zytiga and it failed.
Thanks and best wishes to all the other members of this men's club that no one wanted to join!
LittleJoe