Hello Health Unlocked gang! It's been quite a while since I've posted in the group and I wanted to give an update on my dad and see what your thoughts are on his latest test results.
So, my dad's last PSA test was done on December 19, 2019. It was at .26 at that time. He started Provenge in late January and was able to complete two rounds successfully before his oncologist terminated his treatment due to the virus! He has since had another Lupron shot and another PSA testing. His results came in today and he's at .33, a .07 increase in over 4 months.
I'm feeling pretty good about these results. Despite there being a seven hundredths of a point increase, I see that it's been spread out over 4+ months and that to me is a good thing!
We meet "virtually" with his oncologist on Wednesday. We've had two differing opinions on his PSA increases in the past. His local oncologist who treats 90% breast cancer patients has been eager to move from Lupron right along to Zytiga when his PSA has been very low and while was trending upwards, was not doubling. His urilogical oncologist at the Cleveland Clinic main campus has wanted my dad to take a more "wait and see" attitude and ride out his success with Lupron longer before jumping onto another medicine. We meet with the local oncologist on Wednesday and I'm thinking that I'm going to press for my dad to maintain the Lupron a bit longer before moving to Zytiga, so see if the Provenge will give him more time before switching. His last scans looked great with no evidence of metastasis on the scans.
What do you think? Is there harm in waiting to start another line of therapy or should he start immediately?
Thanks in advance!