Would a Nagalase test help??

[sjc2]

Is anyone familiar with the Nagalase test? Has anyone had a Nagalase test and would it be useful if you've had a orchiectomy and are still castrate sensitive with PSA <0.01 and T <1.0? We are not comfortable only doing traditional CT's & Bone Scans every 6 months while PSA & T is good. It appears the MO's just wait until PSA goes up and you become castrate resistant before they do anything! Hubby had RP in 2014, then RT with ADT in 2015 with his recurrence. He had orchiectomy this year after rapid doubling time of PSA (3 months or less!). All normal scans have & still show nothing until Axumin in 2018 showed just one LN. Also just found out he in BRCA2+. Would having a Nagalase test show us more, so we're not just waiting and doing nothing, when he might have mets that just aren't showing up? Can't do Axumin again until PSA is 2.0 or above! Thanks!!

[Tall_Allen]

It sounds like snake oil:

selfhacked.com/blog/nagalase/

What would you do differently because of it?

Was the LN found using the Axumin scan already treated with the salvage radiation?

The BRCA2+ may qualify him for a trial of a PARP inhibitor:

pcnrv.blogspot.com/2018/02/...

[sjc2 in reply to Tall_Allen]

I was asking about the nagalase test because someone else on here was talking about it. I had never heard of it and wondered if it would show us if has cancer was spreading, better than the ordinary scans which don't show anything until it's advanced, from what I'm reading.

The LN found was in the same area of the pelvis that he already had 39 IMRT treatments Nov. of 2015 and the RO said he couldn't have it again in the same area without doing damage. So nothing was done to the LN.

As I said he is still castrate sensitive, would he still qualify for a trial of a PARP inhibitor?

TA, thank you for your help!!

[Tall_Allen in reply to sjc2]

Check the requirements for each of the clinical trials on the list that don't specifically say mCRPC.

[FCoffey]

I had one several years ago. It was for a different treatment decision than the one you face. The test is real enough, how to use it in making wise choices is another matter. It won't identify specific tumor sites or anything like that.

It's more often used to determine if a particular treatment is likely to work. Some doctors monitor nagalase before and during treatments to see if they are working. If you want to pursue this, at a minimum you'll have to find a doctor you trust with some experience in the use of this test. That may not be easy.

Good luck!