My Metastatic Prostate Cancer Update

[dac500]

On March 1, I had my three monthly blood works, oncology appointment, and Eligard shot. My PSA went down to 0.193 from 0.266 three months ago. This is not as low as I expected. When I restarted ADT treatment in September 2020, my PSA drop rate was lower than the rate when I started initial treatment in November 2018. That time my PSA dropped dramatically from 4.48 before start of treatment to 0.17 in three months. Then it drop to 0.10, 0.07, 0.06 in three monthly intervals.

At that point my stopped ADT and PSA rose from 0.06 to 0.453 in nine months. But the rise from 0.135 to 0.453 was over three months when my T rose only from 114 to 147. Then I restarted ADT in September 2020. My PSA dropped to 0.266 and then to 0.193 in six months. My oncologist wanted to stop Eligard but I insisted to get another shot and decide in June whether to stop depending on the PSA at that time. Did I take the right decision? In June, I will get the annual chest Xray, CT scan, and bone scan.

[Tall_Allen]

If your oncologist wants to stop Eligard, he must believe that your cancer is not hormone sensitive. Was there a biopsy, histology and IHC analysis that leads him to believe that?

[dac500 in reply to Tall_Allen]

No, he thinks my cancer is still hormone sensitive but he wants me to have another break. I thought taking another shot and watching whether PSA continues its fall would be a quicker way to find out whether I am still hormone sensitive. Am I wrong? If I did stop Eligard, my PSA would start to rise. I didn't have biopsy or any of the tests you have mentioned.

[Tall_Allen in reply to dac500]

So your question is - is it a good idea to take an Eligard vacation? That depends on you - if the side effects are onerous, you can take a break until progression of your cancer causes too much anxiety for you.

Eligard continues even when you are castration resistant.

[dac500 in reply to Tall_Allen]

I am not too keen to take an Eligard vacation. But if my PSA remains undetectable ( <0.1) for six months, I am willing to take a break.

[Shorttimer]

Dac500. Your test #s look great. Keep up the battle! I took a year off from eligard(turned me into mr. angry).PSA spiked, anger faded. Doctor put me on finasteride and flutamide pills(1 Ea. a day) 11 months ago. The PSA #’s dropped with pills. Doc and I are happy. I’ll never take Eligard again. Eligard is my kryptonite. Only drawback with the pills are sensitive tits. I can live better with the pills. Good luck and may God bless us as we deal with prostate cancer.

[j-o-h-n in reply to Shorttimer]

My nipples are sore......... Guess they're getting even with me for my naughty youth...

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Thursday 03/04/2021 5:19 PM EST

[bluesnjazz]

Those PSA numbers are not very meaningful unless you've had prostatectomy. I haven't and allow mine to get well into double digits before I restart treatment. This has been working and keeping me tumor-free for 7 years as of this coming summer.

[Hidden in reply to bluesnjazz]

Oh yah! 👏👏