26/07/19 I-PET scan : heterogenous markers suv (max 52) including mets
Doctor suggested luporide every after 3 months including chemotherapy (docetexal) every after 21 days
20/10/19 PSA: 0.72
30/10/19 II-PET scan: tumor size reduced to suv max 20, in two more areas, no new lesion seen
Total chemos: 6 cycles
Doctors suggested to stop chemo but continue luprolide
Follow up every after 3 months and next PET scan after 6 months
After 3 months
Psa is 0.157
No chemo only luprolide injection every after 3 months
One important point doctor told which is a matter of concern that a patient life is just 2 years or 2.5 years not more than that. Is it true?? He told the same is with your dad also.. I am really upset...kindly tell is it really true in such cases ?
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Nick2019
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You have many treatment options: eg enza and abi, cabazitaxel, (you can even try docetaxel again after a while), immunotherapy, LuPSMA, radiation therapies, platinum based chemo etc. 2 1/2 years is way wrong. I would find it hard to trust a doc who told me that and get someone more up to date. However, perhaps S/he meant to say that is often the the period docetaxel remains effective (with the lupride.) before it fails and you need to seek new treatment (or repeat docetaxel) at that point. It seems to me your initial chemo was very effective and if it keeps it under control for 2 1/2 years, that would be great.
I have been telling friends I have a good 5 years left. I have been telling them that for the last 15 years.
I sure hope not. If so I will be checking out this month while youngest grandson is visiting. PSA 0.12/0.13 for last18mo., had orchiectomy to get out from under luprin for life right after last chemo treatment two years ago. Also had left thumb rebuilt the next day as part of my ten year plan. Now on 1/2 dose Xtandi. Live long and enjoy every minute!
Kaptank is right. There are many more options for you. Radiation, Casodex, xtandi, Zytiga, etc. and more on the way. I don't think any doctor should be telling a patient how long he has. After my surgery my first doctor told me I had 5 to 10 years. That was 27 years ago. Through this journey I have fired more than a couple of doctors.
I’ve heard docs say about 30 months until you can expect PSA to start rising again. That is likely where the 2.5 years came from. Good new is that after it starts to rise there are lots of next steps to knock it back down!
I hope not or I’d be dead already!!! Doctors that quote statistics of longevity are fools. I’d find another who wants to help you stay around a long time.
I am 12 years out from Chemo (docetaxel) and still thriving living with APC. Not done yet!
Some of the survival statistics quoted were from original trials where patients were already very advanced. So they tend to reflect worse-case scenarios. Better to not carry that as an expectation. Chemo can be a major survival benefit and not a harbinger of doom.
Mateo Beach is right. Last Stampede update states: “docetaxel was associated with an absolute increase in 5-year OS rates of 15 percentage points in the low burden group, at 72% versus 57% for ADT alone, and of 10 percentage points in the high burden group, at 34% versus 24%.„
As you see , 72% survived 5 years. You can imagine that good responders are far above the quoted 5 years. And a lot of other, new possibilities are today avaliable , compared to the time as study was running
Nick. I received the chemo (Docetaxel) for 6 treatments and Lupron injections (started the same time) about 2-1/2 years ago. All lesions resolved but the bone cancer did not (wasn't expected to). Felt well enough to take a two week European trip and am playing golf this week in AZ. The Docetaxel/Lupron kept the cancer (and PSA) at bay for just about 2 years. When PSA started going up (from 0.06 to 1.3 over 3 months) they started me on Abiraterone (works a little different than Lupron)(1000 mg per day in pill form) along with the 3 month Lupron injections. PSA went back down to <0.03 and bone pain subsided. Dr. said Abiraterone (Zytiga) is typically good for a year although it is effective in some patients for longer. When it stops working they said they had other options. Only downside to the Abiraterone is that is can be expensive. First month was $2100. I checked around on the internet (government site for drugs/pharmacies) and found that using a particular drug store and changing to the Cigna drug plan brought costs down to around $2000 for entire year. Good luck.
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