49 days on Xtandi.. minimal side effects other than fatigue . PSA dropped from 22 to 18 in first 20 days and we expect it to decrease regularly month by month . Down side is Bone Scan shows the t10 is now significantly effected . That makes t7,t9,t10 .. also in the right femur.. pain in back is restricting me however I keep going and just rest more often . Question for you all . Is the reduction of the PSA an indicator that the cancer will possibly stop spreading in the spine ? Or now that it has spread outside the Prostate into the spine is it inevitable that regardless of the PSA numbers the cancer will slowly continue to spread ?
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Be aware that bone scans can show a "flare" phenomenon after starting treatment, so depending on the timing it may not be progression. PSA can also flare after starting other meds so it's possible yours will start dropping quickly.
I'm into my 5th month of Abiraterone and find myself able to do a little more each month.
If your PSA continues to go lower...it indicates that the cancer cells are dying and that's why the possibility of spread to spine keeps going down.
Also, check alkaline phosphatage (ALP) the enzyme which tells us if more bone is getting involved. If ALP is low and in normal range it indicates that the bone metastasis is not getting worse
Glad that you are making efforts to do physical activity as tolerated and carefully not to put too much strain on back.
whatever treatment is suggested by your doctors..the goal is keep PSA and ALP as low as possible so the cancer can be kept from spreading.
You wrote:"PSA dropped from 22 to 18 in first 20 days and we expect it to decrease regularly month by month ." So it increased from 5 days ago? You are taking PSAs too frequently. There are fluctuations. You have to observe a pattern.
I am sorry for the confusion. The last PSA was August 25. At that time it dropped from 22 to 18 . Then yesterday on the 25th of each September it rose from 18 to 19.3 . The August PSA was done after Xtandi was taken for approximately 20 days . Now day 46 it has risen . Obviously my state of concern is reflected in my writing .
I had a bone & CT scan in August . Also an Echo that indicates the heart still only fires between 30 - 35 % . Bone sccan showed progression in T9 as well as something in the tibia . The CT read increased significantly T10 and the right T 8 rib .
Conclusion: interval progression of bony & pulmonary metastasis .
I started the Xtandi August 2nd
and had bone scan in the Aug 27th and CT Aug 30th .
Could Drs have put the cart before the horse ? Not enough time to see if Xtandi would play a roll ? My PSA went down in Aug. Now a month later it has only risen from 18 to 19.8 . Is it possible that this is an indicator that I have already become resistant to Xtandi ? Or is it too soon for that . I can almost guarantee that I will not be getting more scan for at least 6 more months . My next Oncologist appt is in January 2020. Also my Alkaline Phosphates have always been in normal rang ..
thank you for trying to make sense of my info . I realize my thoughts tend to be confused at times .
Hi can I ask is it inevitable that xtandi will fail? My husband is in his 2nd month of taking it. He's age 55 with mets to bones..psa was 7.1 last check. How long before he becomes resistant in your opinion? Thank you for all your help. Wishing you good luck ..running on empty..Olive
I hope that didn’t sound too blunt and there are much more informed members in this chat group. My husband has gone through chemo twice, and is on xtandi and lupron was stable for a year and his PSA has been very slowly climbing for a year but no changes to his scans. I have been treating each year as one of the last years so we have taken some amazing trips. I just decided to retire to spend more time with him but I am 64.
I’m am sure that it is incredibly challenging at your ages to plan your future. From my experience it takes quite a while (months, years) for the disease to change course and the changes to the PSA are not reflective of how Bill is feeling for the most part. Hope this is helpful.
Your journey has just begun, and there is no reason to expect it will be a short one. These things happen slowly. Relax. Be patient. Control the pains with anti-inflammatories (Celecoxib, Diclofenc) and not conventional pain killers.
The problem in your femur can be because you strained that bone (it takes the weight) by reading on the loo! Watch it carefully if there is a risk of it breaking, and hit it with some X-rays if necessary.
I liken this beast to a grass fire - it is trying to burn more areas, and you are trying to put it out and stop it spreading. It is a balancing act, and the fire will flare up at times. But if the PSA is low (under 5 or so) and steady, the fire will slowly be put out. It is up to YOU to swing the fight in your favour, and some of these things are simple and logical.
First, stop doing whatever it was that weakened your immune system. Now that the medications have weakened your immune system even more, do not keep helping the cancer.
Second, get onto a raw foods and smoothie diet. No sugar. No bread. Nothing from a can, box, or bottle. Add vitamins and minerals as needed. This will help your immune system regain some of its killing power. The better the immune system, the longer you live.
Remember all these medications only slow the cancer growth and don't kill any cancer. Your immune system is the killer. The PSA number is a measure of the kills (and indirectly how much cancer is there to kill). There are MANY plants that add a little to the immune system - read about them, as these add up.
Outside of the immune system, the list of known killers of cancer cells is very short. The knife. Radiation. Sodium Ascorbate via IV. And a short list of other exotics (like Peroxide via IV) that are not easy to get hold of and need specialist clinics who have the skills to use them.
I cannot answer your questions. Extensive bone mets. Abdominal lymph node mets. After 8 cycles chemo, 2 years of Xtandi has me at 0.1 psa. Last scans show cancer stable. (But the rest of me is falling apart.) (Have T12 compression fracture, several degenerative lower disks .) Sounds like you are early in game? Be sure to watch alk. phosphatase. Best of wishes.
Hey monte! I’d like you to listen to a song on you tube . Blackberry smoke “ ain’t much left of me” one line says . “ I’m barley held together by a few old threads “. I sure can relate ... Peace to you brother ..
Ah, yes. Says it all. Sung by people who look and dress like me. The hair is gone of course. Lucky we're not held together by threads of hair. A blast from the past. Added to my Spotify playlist. Believe you are still pca free, which is great. Peace to you also. Enjoy that purple sage and western skies.
oh my! Stay strong!! I am having to research prostate cancer because of my father's diagnosis.
I am so sorry, but how is it that your oncologist cannot answer your question about lower PSA # to hopefully equate to thwarting further spread to bone..?
Lastly, please go to IC-Medtech.com and look at Research Tab. I've included some research. They have had good results for prostate cancer w/ Vitamin K3 and Vit. C. The medicine is called Apatone.
J. Gilloteaux, J.M. Jamison, J.L. Summers, Autoschizis: a cell death induced by the anticancer, pro-oxidant stress of ascorbate:menadione combination, dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0959-80..., July 2014
Jacques Gilloteaux, James M. Jamison, Deborah Neal, and Jack L. Summers, Synergistic Antitumor Cytotoxic Actions of Ascorbate and Menadione on Human Prostate (DU145) Cancer Cells In Vitro: Nucleus and Other Injuries Preceding Cell Death by Autoschizis Ultrastruct Pathol. 2014 Apr;38(2):116-40. doi: 10.3109/01913123.2013.852645. Epub 2014 Jan 24.
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