Dad has advanced prostate cancer

[skatergirl10111]

Hi my dad has stage 4 cancer after being diagnosed in near 2017 and it is been really hard since. But im still so unsure on if hes gonna live long. Hes only 53 right now but has the cancer spread to his bones. Hes diet consists of no meat, veggies, limited amounts of sugar and oil and beetroot carrot pomegranate juice everyday. Its a huge burden on me seeing him ill. His psa levels are currently below 1. If anyone knows the life expectancy, good advice or stories please let me know

[Magnus1964]

What treatments has he received: i.e. surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, or drugs ? His diet sound great, no meats means he not consuming hormone fed animal products.

[Muffin2019 in reply to Magnus1964]

Got a question, how long did casodex last with ADT with you, I am starting next week and looking for tips, I like your posts. Congratulations on 27 years of fighting this beast, you are an inspiration.

[Magnus1964 in reply to Muffin2019]

Casodex was the first ADT drug I went on and it was effective for 5 years.

[Muffin2019 in reply to Magnus1964]

There are alot of good information and I follow you.

[Engraver68 in reply to Muffin2019]

Casodex lasted for 8 years with me

[LearnAll in reply to Engraver68]

Were you on Lupron+casodex or just on casodex only ?

[Engraver68 in reply to LearnAll]

Casodex only

[LearnAll in reply to Engraver68]

wonderful ! Thanks for replying as I am getting more and more fascinated by Casodex studies coming from out of USA esp from Japan and Korea. It seems this great medicine was demonized in last few years .. in order to sell new, extremely expensive meds which have much more side effects than casodex.

[Engraver68 in reply to LearnAll]

Certainly worked for me, I started Zolodex/Lupron and Abiraterone 2 1/2 years ago just started to fail now so looking for SABR treatment option on trial to give more life to the Abiraterone.

11 years now since initial diagnosis, 8 grandchildren to enjoy that I never thought I would get to see still keeping active (cycling, walking, running etc).

[LearnAll in reply to Engraver68]

It is possible that you have 11 years of PCa control because you did not take more toxic meds in the beginning and also kept good diet and physical activity. Because a Lutamide, Bicalutamide did so good to you...it may be time to try another Lutamide such as Enzalutamide or Apalutamide. Just a thought...

[Engraver68 in reply to LearnAll]

I agree if SABR fails I will be making enquirers about Apalutamide next, of do I just start Chemotherapy now

[LearnAll in reply to Engraver68]

Ignore the noise and choose carefully after checking pros and cons of each treatment. Wish you 2 more decades of health and happiness.

[Muffin2019 in reply to Engraver68]

That is so encouraging to me, 8 years is great, congratulations and hope it still works more years

[ElemanJ in reply to Engraver68]

What was your Gleason score? Did you have RP or Radiation before?

[Engraver68 in reply to ElemanJ]

Gleason 7 I had both RP followed a year later by radiation to prostate bed then Casodex only for 8 years from 2010-18

[ElemanJ in reply to Engraver68]

Sorry. Just one more question. What was your PSA after RP and Radiation (RT)? Did you start Casodex parallel to RT or after PSA rising again? Thanks.

[Engraver68 in reply to ElemanJ]

PSA .01 (negligible), however continued to rise and post radiation 1.3 and rising started casodex after both RP and Radiation. PSA reduced back to .06 October 2011 casodex then taken as first line hormone treatment until January 2018 when it lost usefulness and I commenced Zolodex (Lupron) 6 month shot. This also failed to control PSA so commenced Abiraterone June 2018 to present day. PSA currently rising again (1.1) so about to enter TRAP trial for SABR treatment to sole metastasis in left Ischium. Hopefully this will allow me to stay with Abiraterone for a bit longer.

[skatergirl10111 in reply to Magnus1964]

chemo!

[LearnAll]

Magnus1964 is living with this for over 27 years...This is how long it can be possible. Ask Magnus64 the secret of living 27+ years with advanced PCa.

[Mufj in reply to LearnAll]

Sorry to hesr you are going through this happened to me when i was 25 (40yr ago) so kinda know what u are goin thru but everyone and situation is different

You will hear lot of stories on this site bout people in youre dads situation dealing with this for 10 to 25yr. Recentlt have been lot of advancement and more on the way

For some the difficult part is there are so many options that deciding path is hard

It would help to list specifics on diagnoses and treatment so people can provide more informed opinions on youre dads situation

Youre dad is lucky to have you by his side. It is really helpful for him to have an advocate to help him along

So good luck and you will hear from many others more informef than me

[Magnus1964 in reply to LearnAll]

Monotherapy, I don't like to go on more than one drug or treatment at a time. Each can provide some additional time. And I don't like to give a treatment a certain amount of time. Stay with a treatment as lone as it's working.

[LearnAll in reply to Magnus1964]

I like your strategy of using your weapons one at a time. Now, we have biomarkers and scans to know what really is going on inside with our PCa. Using a hand gun and checking carefully if it is doing its job..keep using it. Once it stops doing its job..start using rifle..when that stop working ..may be go for machine gun. This strategy might work for a long time and cause less toxic side effects ...but we also need close monitoring thru Biomarkers such as PSA, ALP. Albumin, Hb, LDH,CRP etc. and sometimes, scans. I am planning to go with your sequential treatment strategy. Right now I am on OFF period of Intermittent ADT for last 8 1/2 months..and checking PSA every 2 weeks to check progression.

Some people who have very aggressive type PCa..this "one weapon at a time " may not be appropriate as they need massive force to subdue the PCa from get go.

[Magnus1964 in reply to LearnAll]

I agree, some prostate cancers are very aggressive and need to treated aggressively, using more than one drug or treatment at a time.

[Shanti1]

Hi Skategirl- The fact that his PSA is less than 1 is a good sign. My husband was diagnosed with stage 4 in early 2017 with mets to bones, lymph nodes and lung, but he is in remission using ADT. Every case is different, but some men live with advanced prostate cancer for years. There are many knowledgeable men on this site who can help with suggestions for treatments and better quality of life on the medications if you would like to share more.

[Tall_Allen]

What therapies has he used? Has he had Xofigo yet? Taxotere? Zytiga?

What country is he in?

If he likes that diet - that's great. If not, it sounds very extreme and is likely doing him little good. Be especially careful with carrot juice everyday - that can create liver toxicity.

[dhccpa in reply to Tall_Allen]

Carrot juice causes liver toxicity? Do you have a good source on that? Thanks

[Tall_Allen in reply to dhccpa]

Here ya go:

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi...

[dhccpa in reply to Tall_Allen]

Thanks a bit anecdotal but i guess you can overdo anything.

[Hidden]

Tell us what treatments he's had or considering. Hope he has a good Medical Oncologist to help him get good treatments.

I agree with Tall_Allen about not putting energy into a diet if he doesn't like it, especially if it increases the burden on you. It's always good to eat healthy, but trying to carry this out to extremes can make your life more diffcult to manage for no gain. And most importantly, diets and supplements are not substitutes for proven treatments.

Beware of unproven claims on this forurm such as: "diets and supplements slow the growth of cancer or make the treatments more effective". These are beliefs, not proven science.

Hoping for the best for him and you.

[Muffin2019]

Sounds like he is doing ok, maybe do chemo to knock those mets down, after chemo mine has healed, psa was 156 . Nobody knows how long they have and alot of us live 10 years or more with treatments, keep the positive attitude that will help both of you and never give in to the beast.

[LearnAll]

Skatergirl,

Its great that he is eating healthy diet....it not only slows prostate cancer but protects the heart due to bad side effects on heart of Lupron like meds. And, a healthy ,mostly plant based diet keeps inflammation low ,thus slowing cancer cell growth.

Do Not be mislead by people who are against diet change as its part of the comprehensive treatment..so let him continue healthy diet and as much physical activity as he can perform. Both are helpful and increase effectiveness of medical treatments and promote better health.

[j-o-h-n]

To skatergirl10111,

We need more information regarding your Dear Father: Location? Scores psa/gleason? Treatment(s) to date? Treatment center(s)? Doctor's name(s)? Thank you!!! All information is voluntary but it helps us help him and helps us too... Keep posting here, this is a great site.

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Sunday 08/16/2020 11:55 AM DST

[Originalsnds]

I also have Stage 4 advanced , now castrate resistant prostate cancer, Diagnosed in Nov of 2016. Had 45 treatments of Radiation and did Firmagon injections for 2 years. It failed at that point and I was put on Elligard, form of Lupron, injections every 3 months. Itis now over 1 1/2 years on the Elligard. My pSA is rising and now I have Bone Mets spread to many parts of my Spinal column & Ribs.. Also spread to my left Hip Illiac and bone marrow.

Did another round of 10 Radiation treatments to the Hip. Helped a great deal on Pain control. About 9 months ago I went on a clinical trial, Zytiga, and Prednisone daily along with a Placebo test drug in which We know at my Cancer care center that it is the correct arm that I am getting.. This is great news.. Needed al the help I can get. Ended up in the Hospital due to the strength of that test drug. Hemoglobin down below 7, Red ( White cells a mess. Had 2 Blood transfusions which helped alot, Lowered the dose of the test drug, things are much better now. We are all different in this battle.

Life expectancy kind of goes out the window, We all are so different and the many different treatments out there keep us Living, Enjoying evry day and doing things with our family.

Importantly, I had a PSA nadir of 28 and Gleason score of 9 with all 12 of my biopsies having 90 % and 100% cancer. This couldn't be more dangerous and it already had spread at that time. Life Expectancy , I had a few Times where I was in trouble, short times were there for me, The aggressive treatments have been great. I expect to be here for awhile. I will not let this beast beat me down easily. I am always ready for the next treatment.

Think Positive. Enjoy Life, do things together always..

Best treatments are from a CANCER SPECIALIZING Center or Hospital.

I go to Fox Chase Cancer center Phila. There are so many great cancer centers out there

in the beginning I was treated by my Urologist and A General Hospital that treats cancer.. They are good, BUT YOU CAN DO BETTER at a CANCER CENTER.. They can treat you with things the Hospital or Urologist can not. Medical Research Teams are GREAT.

I will be 72 years old in Late Sept. I enjoy my life. Pain is there yes, but they treat me for it.

Others have made it as long as 15 or 18 years... So can WE Heck I'm planning on 20 years.

[LearnAll in reply to Originalsnds]

Are you sure you had a PSA Nadir of 28 ? That will be considered extremely high PSA Nadir.

BTW, PSA Nadir means..after being on treatment, the lowest level of PSA someone is able to achieve ...In your case..Is it Initial PSA or PSA Nadir ?

[Originalsnds in reply to LearnAll]

Sorry I had a starting PSA of 28 It was not the nadir, I confused that. I didn't have treatment started immediately after diagnosed. It took 4 months to start as I had to have 2 stents put in first. Thank you for responding and explaining the diff on nadir.