Should be wait?

[Mamabakes994]

My husband received two injections of Xofigo, had blood test last week and seen the doctor yesterday. His psa went from 160 to 270. My husband wants to give Xofigo a chance and the doctor agreed to have him get two more injections. If his psa does not go down, he will start docetaxel infusions. Is it good to wait two months?

[Tall_Allen]

How soon after the Xofigo shot was the PSA test? It's very common that PSA increases immediately after Xofigo (or radiation, or any cytotoxic therapy). In fact, it's a sign the therapy is working. The reason is because Xofigo kills cancer cells. The dead cancer cells dump their PSA into the serum, increasing the detected PSA temporarily. For this reason, it's a good idea not to get a PSA test too soon - it only causes anxiety and doesn't provide any useful information.

[Mamabakes994 in reply to Tall_Allen]

He had his last injection on May 1st and his blood test was May 17 th. Thank you for the info! I do appreciate it!

[Amandaslp78 in reply to Tall_Allen]

Good evening! My dad just had his second injection of Xofigo last week. He is noticing increased back pain. In your experience and research, do you know if this is a side effect of the Xofigo. We are trying to figure out if it’s his pre-existing back stenosis or the Xofigo. He just had some recent scans so we are hoping that will tell us something. He was also recently weaned off of dexamethasone? with in the past two weeks and the doctor thinks we may have done it too fast and wants him to take one every other day. Not sure if that could be contributing as well. Thoughts?

[Mamabakes994 in reply to Amandaslp78]

The doctor did tell my husband that at first the pain may be worst. My husband never had pain in his back until he started xofigo. He just received his third shot yesterday. He has no energy but he is eating well and no weight loss. Have to pray this is working. Hope your dad starts feeling better and the treatments work well for him.

[Fairwind]

Radium 223 might not result in a big drop in PSA..What it seems to do best is clamp the PSA where it is, providing a much less frightening doubling time..