How long does it take for doxetaxel to bring down psa?

[Judymin]

My husband is on his 4th infusion, psa started at 35, last test 16 from 22. He will have scans this month. I was hoping for lower psa but the doctor is not concerned at this time. So far he has done very well, although hair loss, no other issues but some fatigue. He is still working, and trying to exercise as much as possible. I see a lot of people had drop of the psa down to undetectable quickly. Any thoughts? thanks Judym

[Dachshundlove]

Hi Judymin

If PSA is decreasing overall, that is what matters. His psa is down by more than 1/2 which means he is having a good psa response to chemo! That is great!

My husband’s psa jumped all over during chemo and he was not have a good response. You want a regular downward trend.

Good luck to both of you!

[Judymin in reply to Dachshundlove]

Thank you!! Good luck to you both in this fight

[Pleroma]

Yes, regular downward trend is good.

[Judymin]

Thank you from scans it looks like in lymph nodes only. New scans this month

[Hidden]

Keep in mind that many of the patients that have PSA declines to very low or undetectable levels are newly diagnosed, doing chemotherapy along with ADT for the first time, and hormone sensitive.

Typically patients doing chemotherapy after castrate resistance don't get those same dramatic drops. After castrate resistance, a 50% PSA drop is considered to be a good response. We can always hope for better of course, but this looks like a good response so far.

[MarkBC]

The bone scan will hopefully give you more good news. I had a full set of scans done a month after finishing chemo. They showed every tumour had shrunk considerably. Another set done 4 months later showed no additional growth.

[Hidden]

Take time to read or have your MO explain to you cellular apoptosis. First, cancer cells are simply mutated cells that rapidly reproduce. We take drugs and or radiation to effect, in layman terms, the weakening of the cell structure so that it will collapse and the cell dies. Although, the process can be immediate, in most cases, it takes time for the induced damage to the cell structure to effect cellular death. During the “death throes”, the cell can not reproduce.

The point is if you would draw a single cell and mark on the drawing a spot where damage is done, eventually the cell will no longer reproduce or divide and simply die as the structure collapses causing the cell to die. As the cell dies, it will release, in our case, antigens that is reflected in PSA. In my case after initial radiation therapy, it was ten months after six months of chemo for the damaged cells to die and be flushed from my body. I had monthly blood draws marking a PSA. At ten months, I became undetectable or less than 0.1.

In an effort to survive, the mutated cell furthers mutates to protect itself from whatever is causing its death. And that is the problem that researchers are looking to overcome. Killing the mutated cell that survives........ left to grow at some point in the future causing reoccurrence.

Your job is to survive the poisons induced by the medical community in an effort to kill the little bastards.

Gourd Dancer