My MO is electing not to use carboplatin and remain with taxotere infusion . Currently on Xtandi but PSA rising. ALP also rising so MO feels Xtandi failing after 3 months with next step taxotere.
Looking for those who have fought liver Mets with taxotere chemo and what the results have been.
Gene mapping did not show the needed mutation for other procedures .
I am sure others have possibly been where I am and as always appreciate input.
I also live with extensive bone Mets and am on morphine- but am told the taxotere helps reduce bone pain -
So it seems logical to be are the next step to chemo.
How long did taxotere work to keep liver and bone mets under control after other drugs fail ?
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DSEE
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I've read that Carboplatin is generally well tolerated, even together with Taxotere and Estramustine. I only have experience with Taxotere alone, but there are probably posts on that here if you search.
I’m on a combo of Taxotere and Carboplatin recommended by Stanford and UCSF. PSA coming down, pain from Mets disappeared and side effects very manageable. 4 cycles in.
Ditto every comment by paulcross4 regarding my husband’s mets and treatment. He just finished his 6th treatment and has done great! His bone pain went away after his first chemo.
I have had 2 series of chemo (6 infusions each) with Docetaxel/Carboplatin combo. Worked for me. PSA dropped and liver lesions smaller. Side effects manageable but as with all chemo, fatigue increases with each cycle.
Yes to biopsy to determine source of liver lesions. First was ultrasound guided and a failure. Second was CT guided and it confirmed lesion was prostate cancer. First time I was ever pulling for a different type of cancer, as Medical Oncologist said that prostate cancer mets in liver are harder to treat and have a worse prognosis than straight up liver cancer.
Hi DSEE, ....my husband has many bone mets, liver and LN. He finished taxotere, twelve months. Not long after PSA rising, went back on Zitaga, did not work for him this time around... He is now on caboplaten chemo. (Spell) Every three weeks After eight months it' now has stopped working. We are now is the process of going to get scan for Lu-177. My husband has too many liver mets to radiate....
Ah Lynn, it is so good to read from you as I have often been wondering how you and your husband are getting on. I am sorry to hear that things are so bad. Much love, Mel.
Before I give you my opinion on this, I would like to make it clear that I am not a doctor and everything I have to say comes out of my personal experience with my husband's cancer and all that I have read and learned from that over the years.
I wouldn't mess around and waste time with Taxatir if it can be at all avoided and do Carbo Platin first. When your cancer has spread to your liver, it is quite aggressive and it needs aggressive treatment. While Taxatir seems to be easier on the body and less toxic and have fewer side-effects, it mostly works on bone mets. So if you want to be sure to get the liver mets, you need to go to Carbo Platin. Some people do a combination of Taxatir and Carbo, but whether or not you can do that depends on how strong your body is and how much Chemo your body could take.
Your story sounds quite similar to my husband's story in that he, too, was on Zytiga for a while and on the same pain medication (not for bone pain but for a chronic undiagnosed stomach pain). Anyway, Zytiga worked for him for two years. He was taking it for bone and lymph node mets. Then my husband's liver mets were discovered and he was put on Taxatir. I was surprised at this because I thought that I had read in many places that, while Taxatir is usually the first Chemo drug people are put on, in case of liver mets or other organ mets it would be Carbo Platin that would work best for those. I think that our oncologist wanted to try Taxatir first as it is said that it has fewer side-effects and is not as aggressive on the body. Well, all I can say is that my husband did much better on Carbo Platin than on Taxatir. He did two rounds of Taxatir, but when the PSA went up further and the liver mets didn't change, the oncologist finally put him on Carbo Platin. That stopped the liver mets from growing and we had eight more months together.
I do believe that it is standard protocol to start with Taxatir no matter what mets you have. But my personal opinion is: Ask him to do Carbo Platin straight away because this drug will be effective in treating your liver mets. Depending on how your general health is and how strong you are, perhaps he could do a combination of Taxatir and Carbo Platin, which some of our members here have done quite successfully
Your advise and compassion for the fight in this disease are recognized and noted.
We have done taxotere in the beginning which caused a 2 week hospital stay- then on to the other regimen of drugs and currently Xtandi which was started the first month liver Mets were discovered and continued- which was just 3 months ago.
At this time sure Xtandi is failing due to PSA rising but still only in the 20’s.
AST high but only slightly-
Still liver Mets are there and must be discontinued from growing.
A biopsy confirmed cancer in liver.
Your comments will lead us to get yet another 2nd opinion from a renown cancer doctor at Emory university hospital , yet again.
I too agree that he needs aggressive treatment.
We are told he is an anomaly.
He has significant pain flares in particular the groin area.
Ribs and spine sometimes-
Great fatigue -
But other days are good and we are able to enjoy the spring weather here in the southeast and out grandchildren’s visits.
As we continue our fight let it be known that we appreciate your comments, suggestions and caring attitude.
You say AST is elivated - by how much? And what about ALP and ALT?
PSA still quite low, although, once the cancer changes (meaning it becomes endocrene) the cancer cells would no longer (or not necessarily) show PSA. In other words, the level of the PSA doesn't say much about the extend of the disease at this stage. Our oncologist said to us that the PSA levels were no longer an indicator or a reliable indicator once my husband's cancer had spread to the live.
We had always been looking at PSA levels. Now we were looking at AST, ALT and ALP.
I know the fatigue yaou are talking about. And at this stage of the disease it is really difficult if not impossible to determine whether the fatigue comes from all the treatment or whether it is cancer fatigue or whether it is becaus of the malfunctioning liver... or maybe a combination of all of those factors including of course the stress (also emotionally) that comes with it all. I am glad to read that you are still enjoying as much of life as you can and that there are good days among the difficult ones.
Look at the thread for "Liver mets?" posted 4 months ago.
I found it because my husband just got scan results showing liver mets while on Taxotere, so that's not working. We're in the process of further staging and doing research - so thanks to everyone who has posted.
The consensus on that "Liver mets?" post was that Carboplatin is better for liver mets. And that is what our consulting onco at UCSF mentioned (after we hopefully can bx the liver tumors). Now I see why.
So - you could try the Taxotere first, and it could be things about your husband's blood work or other status that makes him hesitant on Carboplatin (it is a little harder on the body but every body is different). See if it is specific to your case or it's just a general aversion. If it's a general aversion - switch oncologists! Any oncologist should be willing to use anything that might work! And should definitely explain his/her choices.
My husband did 4 cycles of Taxotere (2nd round after 1st round 5 years ago) - and it doesn't seem to have done much. Liver mets grew and multiplied. Only 3 so far but hoping to get on it soon.
Good luck - there are so many factors! Ask questions!
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