Changed prednisone to dexamethasone w... - Advanced Prostate...

Advanced Prostate Cancer

22,286 members27,986 posts

Changed prednisone to dexamethasone with Zytiga; lowered PSA after one month

Grumpyswife profile image
6 Replies

It's been advised on here by others but I wanted to update for others in our situation--where enza quits working and Zytiga may get a boost from the change.

The MO easily agreed to the switch to dexa in January when my husband's psa rose 2+ points to 13.56 on 1/6/20.

After using dexa for about a month along with Zytiga (brand) his psa on 2/10/20 dropped to 11.89. Husband also loosely follows the Tippens protocol with fenben but now takes it 4 days a week.

The local MO is against chemo for my husband because he is asymptomatic for pCa and has cognitive issues (Alzheimer's diagnosis) already.

All of his other bloodwork was "better then most young people's" including liver tests. He was slightly anemic as usual. We were happy.

Written by
Grumpyswife profile image
Grumpyswife
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Read more about...
6 Replies
LearnAll profile image
LearnAll

Thanks for this info. It confirms the study that there are medicines which can prolong effectiveness of Abiraterone after it stops working. Change from prednisone to Dexamethasone is one such strategy to make Abi last longer.

Hope the steroid switch continues to work for him.

I am also about to start Dexamethasone with Zytiga. My doctor said that so far, it worked on 1 out of 3 patients. He also said that the patient it worked on had a significant PSA reduction that lasted 6 months. That's really hopeful.

From the results of the SWITCH trial, just under one half of patients had a PSA response. I'm hoping my good PSA response will change my doctor's small sample to 2 out 4 patients.

Let us know how things go.

Grumpyswife profile image
Grumpyswife in reply to

At this stage we’d be thrilled to get 6 months’ improvement.

ctflatlander profile image
ctflatlander in reply to

Hi Gregg, I saw my MO yesterday and wasn't able to convince him to make the switch from Pred to Dexa. I was undetectable for 8 mo's now at .2 Did you use the Switch trial evidence?

I need to do more research and but haven't given up. Thanks Bob

in reply toctflatlander

Yes, I used the SWITCH trial as evidence. My doctor knows I read a lot about prostate cancer and has even complimented me about it.

We had a discussion sometime ago about the SWITCH trial. I tried to get him to put me on Dexa from the beginning and he wouldn't agree to that. He was only willing to consider it now that my PSA has started going up. He said he had three other patients so far that tried it so he hasn't been doing it for too long.

His attitude was: "If I thought it could hurt you I would not agree to it." so while he wasn't comfortable doing it from the beginning, he was OK based on the SWITCH trial. I think that's reasonable. They have lots of data with Zytiga + P, but not much with Zytiga + D.

Hope59 profile image
Hope59

Great news for your husband!

My husband just switched from Prednisone to Dexamethasone last week. His PSA increased in one month from 0.7 to 1.4. I emailed to request the change and the MO called it right after.

Hoping for similar results!

Not what you're looking for?

You may also like...

PSA Lowered after stopping CASODEX

Interesting experience. PSA While on Lupron and Casodex 12/6/19 PSA 4.78 2/17/20 PSA 4.78 3/6/20...
Joeym1040 profile image

HUSBAND'S LATEST PSA AFTER ZYTIGA

PSA now 4.20, down from 7.58 in late November, 2018 Below is my husband's signature showing his...
spouse21 profile image

Zytiga with dexamethasone

My husband had to switch from prednisone to dexamethasone and Zytiga 3 months ago. The psa has...
Cynthgob profile image

MO wants to pause Zytiga when PSA reaches 0

Hi all, my father is on his 5th month with Zytiga and his latest PSA was 1.92, the PSA keeps going...
Dalph87 profile image

Rising PSA after starting Zytiga - Prednisone - Eligard

Good morning Warriors: My MO added Zytiga and Prednisone , in addition to Eligard, to my fight on...

Moderation team

Bethishere profile image
BethishereAdministrator
Number6 profile image
Number6Administrator
Darryl profile image
DarrylPartner

Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.

Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.