I was surprised when the nurse told me that this is a (chemotherapy) injection as I told her it is a (hormonal therapy because it will block GTRH in the pituitary to lower Testesteron). She gaved me a pamphlet that I need to read about this treatment discribing what is it and what are the side effects, and it is mentioned clearly (Degarelix is a chemotherapy for advance prostate cancer treatment)
The other thing I read that I have to be careful of the supplements and vitamins that I take for possible interaction with treatment !
Any one here has Firmagon (Degarelix) treatment information regarding the supplements and vitamins that can interfere with the efficiency of this treatment??
I got 240 mg in my abdomen 2 sites subcutaneously, with some redness and pain in the area.
Do I need to stop ALL the vitamins and suppliments that most of us here are taking (to slow down the progression of the cancer), while on Firmagon therapy?
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Ralph1966
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It's a chemical for treating cancer, so yes, chemotherapy. It's not cytotoxic, but as you pointed out hormonal therapy.
As for stopping all vitamins, the short answer is NO. I'm not an expert on Firmagon and will defer to members who have looked into this topic.
There is a huge difference between stopping a supplement that has a known, demonstrated interaction with a drug and stopping supplements because it has never been tested with the drug.
The latter approach would ban nearly all other drugs, as new drug trails rarely test combinations of drugs. Cancer is a complex disease, PCa is a cancer of older men, and both mean that many patients take multiple drugs. But it is quite rare to be advised to stop ALL your other drugs because they have not been tested with the latest one. Again, specific interactions, sure, be careful.
Taken to its logical limit, doctors who counsel patients to stop taking supplements should also tell them to stop eating. There are all kinds of strange and wonderful things in foods.
FCoffy is correct, the short answer is no. Read the interaction page for Firmagon. If it does not specifically mention any of you supplements, no problem.
I agree with you - it's not a cytotoxic chemotherapy, it's a hormonal therapy. Injection site reactions for Firmagon usually diminish after the second injection.
There is no clinical evidence that any supplement (with the possible exception of sulforaphane) slows the progression of the cancer, but I'm not aware of any interaction with Firmagon. Avoid supplements that mask PSA before your PSA tests:
No ,don’t stop nutrients ... My first and last shot of Firmagon drove down my Psa . Then switched to Lupron . Hope that you get the same effective results ..
• in reply to
On paper when I pick up my test adt tri-monthly pills it’s considered a infusion ..by the DEA ..I think any drug for cancer is considered a chemo drug....We know it’s just adt . Chemo is a different story . Every treatment is toxic to us . Stay on exercise and nutrition ... to help counteract the symptoms ...
I had left and right side stomach injections (240mg) of degarelix in March 2018. Then 1 side injection (120mg) a month later in April and a third side-injection (120mg) in May. Over this 3 month period, I also took pills daily of apalutamide, abiraterone-acetate, prednisone, and indomethacin. This was all part of a trial, taking neoadjuvant ADT and HT medicines prior to the RP surgery in early June.
The clinical-trial needed to know what supplements I was taking before hand, and if I planned to take them over the three months. However they did not express any concern over me taking vitamins, a bone supplement, etc. I had no ill effects due to taking vitamins during that time. I am no medical expert, so I can only speak from my experience.
That reads like a generic precaution put in the medication literature by lawyers in case there is some weird and unpredictable interaction. Your doctor is NOT going to look up every vitamin and supplement you take to see if it interacts with Degarelix. I think the advice by the other members is more pertinent than the nurse's boilerplate response. And, yeah: you're both right: it is hormonal treatment and it is a chemical used in therapy, therefore "chemotherapy."
Degarelix is a GnRH antagonist. An antagonist drug blocks the receptor by binding to it and counteracts its function. Degarelix inhibits GnRH from binding to its receptors and stops the release of gonadotropin. By blocking the GnRH receptors, degarelix blocks the sex hormones' activity and decreases the production of testosterone.
Chemotherapy refers to the that prevent cancer cells from dividing and growing. It does this by killing the dividing cells. In other words, chemotherapy kills cancer cells. Most commonly through cellular apoptosis. You might say that chemotherapy causes cellular suicide. Its main attack is to kill all cells that rapidly divide. Examples include hair, nails, and cancer - the run amok cells that rapidly divide.
The real question is, “Is degarelix a cytotoxic drug designed to destroy or inhibit the growth and division of malignant cells in the treatment of cancer?”
I read that degarelix is an antineoplastc drug. This class of drug acts to inhibit or halt the development of a tumor (neoplasm). Inhibit by temporarily blocking signals from the brain?
By definition, in my opinion, degarelix has a creative marketing promoter revising the definition of chemotherapy.
Of course, degarelix does nothing to inhibit micro-metastasis. And, all Gleason, 7, 8, 9, and 10 should be aware of the term.
This is the sum total of my knowledge learning during a six month chemotherapy-hormone therapy trial using two different infusion and two orals alternated weekly in six week cycles; plus daily Prednisone. All of which have cytotoxic properties; plus Lupron/Eligard in three month injections.
My initial treatment 7 yrs. ago was with Degeralix. I had some type of bad reaction to it and have thereafter been on Lupron. My understanding is they are similar ADTs, not "chemo-thearpies". I have continued taking my routine vitamins (C, D......) but I don't take supplements and don't have any info regarding them.
I have been on Degarelix for 14 months now with the plan being to stop after 19 months at the end of September.
I had a fairly savage reaction to the stuff with a rise in blood pressure, blood sugar, etc so I am now on Irbesartan, Amlodipine and Metformin.
These have bought the situation under control and I think they may actually be helpful in stopping the progress of the PCa.
Anyway my PSA continues at below the level of detection of the routine PSA test < 0.05 ng/mL so all well and good so far.
It is not a chemotherapy as such insofar as it is not an antineoplastic agent.
However it blocks GnRH at the pituitary resulting in very low levels of LH and FSH in the body. This results in the testicles going into hibernation and producing no or very low levels of testosterone.
This may result in prostate cancer cells being checked and ceasing to grow or dying.
The response varies from cancer to cancer with some being very responsive to androgen deprivation and others adapting to the lack of androgens and continuing to grow quite rapidly.
PCa cells seem to have GnRH receptors on them in certain strains and these may be blocked by degarelix as well, this is a bit hand wavy as no one is sure about this.
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