Lutetium 177

[Eugmn]

Hello all. I have reached a point that I have some new decisions to make.

Based on my last PSMA scan from UCLA I have some activity in upper torso lymph nodes causing PSA to rise. Lupron and Aberiterone have been losing there effectiveness. My OC has suggested Chemo should be the next step. He wants to be sure we get every inch out of the Aberiterone before the Chemo.

I reached out to Bad Berka in Germany through Bookinghealth as well as direct to the clinic.

Bookinghealth has responded with approval. Haven’t heard from the clinic yet. I’m not sure what the differences may be between going through Bookinghealth or the clinic? Bookinghealth quoted me about 25,000.00 usd per treatment at Helios Hospital Berlin-Buch

Anyone do this in Germany? I know the treatment can be found cheaper in other countries.

Are there any statistics on how much time Lu-177 may add to life? I have read many stories of guys who have done well on this and others that I have not done quite so well.

Any advice or opinions are welcome. Thank you

[GP24]

The Helios Hospital Berlin-Buch is in Berlin and not in Bad Berka. You can contact Prof. Baum in Wiesbaden who treats many patients from the US: curanosticum.de/en/team/doc...

psmainfo.org/news/137-dr-ba...

The therapy will not work well for all patients, see the waterfall plot here:

urotoday.com/conference-hig...

Also, you will probably need at least two treatments so calculate two trips to Germany.

[Eugmn in reply to GP24]

This is great info. Thank you for providing it

[RyderLake2]

Hello, I would check out options available in the USA before going to Germany. Several folks have written about their experience in HU. See Great John's experience with Doctor Luke Nordquist in Omaha, Nebraska as an example. If you are bound and determined to go to Germany as opposed to India, Australia, Britain and elsewhere I would not use Booking Health. Booking a trip to Germany, as long as you have been Covid vaccinated, is not rocket science. Two years ago I went to the Universitaets Klinikum des Saarlandes (UKS) in Homburg, Germany. Homburg is a small town with a big hospital in the Saar region. For reasons that I won't go into here, I did not have the Lutetium treatment but the total cost of our trip (wife and I) was $14,500 (and that was in Canadian dollars)! Flights to Germany for my wife and I from YVR (Vancouver) to Frankfurt (FRA) was about $2650 (CDN). We flew Air Canada out and Lufthansa back. Train travel on Deutsche Bahn from Frankfurt to Homburg was 190 Euros or $287.00 (CDN). German trains are amazing, high speed rail, on time, and very comfortable. We made one easy connection. Buy a Deutsche Bahn card ($30.00) to save money. Seven nights in the Hotel Stadt Homburg was 524 Euros or $780 (CDN) and that included eight breakfasts and six dinners. Not deluxe, but for us more than adequate and an easy walk to the hospital.

Booking Health will tell you that they will provide translation services. That is definitely not needed! All the German doctors and most of the nurses we encountered spoke fluent English. If you run into someone who doesn't speak English, they will find someone who does. Put Google Translate on your phone to talk to non-medical staff. The cost of treatment at UKS was 6861 Euros or $10,270 CDN. That was cheaper than anywhere else I could find in Germany and included a PSMA scan. Good luck and I hope that helps with your decision!

[mklc in reply to RyderLake2]

Great detailed information. Thank you for this. Hope you are doing well?

[Eugmn in reply to RyderLake2]

Thanks so much for the information. I am not dead set on Germany at all. I’m just trying to find an option for my next treatment. I am a bit nervous about starting chemotherapy and thought that this may be a better option with less side effects. I will spend some time looking through this site in regards to LU 177

[ARIES29 in reply to Eugmn]

Hi there Eugmn, I had two treatments of LU177 here in Australia through Theranostics & my PSA was reduced from18 to 1.6. So for me it worked & took 4 years for the PSA to rise again. So I guess it gave me 4 years of extra life?They insist that you have had chemo first however where in Germany chemo is a treatment of the past.

[Eugmn in reply to ARIES29]

Thank you for the info

[Concerned-wife in reply to Eugmn]

You might wish to go to UroToday to read various prostate cancer doctors discuss this, too. Excellent info there. Also Did you check the clinical trial.gov site to see if there was a trial in the IS that you could get into?

[Eugmn in reply to Concerned-wife]

Thanks For your reply I will be definitely looking at this information

[Eugmn in reply to RyderLake2]

Thank you, very good information

[Danish-patient]

I have had PSMA Luetium eleven times in series of two-three treatments one month apart. Each series has kept my PSA in control for appr one year. It has not worked so well on bone mets but those have been zapped with RapidArc radiation - and that combination has worked well. I have gone to Austria for PSMA Lutetium and I have had to pay for everything myself.

[Eugmn in reply to Danish-patient]

Thanks for your reply and the information

[andrew61]

I had 4 LU177 treatments at UCLA in 2018. On Monday I am going to Munich for another. The cost is EU 13,000. If you end up wanting all the details let me know.I’m originally Australian but discarded the thought of going home for this given the COVID lockdowns in Australia.

[Eugmn in reply to andrew61]

Thank you for the info

[lewicki in reply to andrew61]

Is there any reason you will not get AC-225 while in Germany?

[Eugmn in reply to lewicki]

Hello, right now I have only began my quest to seek out other options rather go immediately to chemotherapy. I contacted Germany and gave them my case. AC- 225 was not mentioned in their recommendations.

After receiving a lot of great feedback on this site I have continued looking at options other than going to Germany and I’m looking at India right now. It seems to me they offer the same treatments if not better than other countries,but they are far more affordable. Many post on this site support India’s fortis memorial. I will have to wait and see what they say after they contact me back and assess my case.

[andrew61 in reply to lewicki]

Because it is very tough on salivary glands.

[Eugmn]

Hello, right now I have only began my quest to seek out other options rather go immediately to chemotherapy. I contacted Germany and gave them my case. AC- 225 was not mentioned in their recommendations.

After receiving a lot of great feedback on this site I have continued looking at options other than going to Germany and I’m looking at India right now. It seems to me they offer the same treatments if not better than other countries,but they are far more affordable. Many post on this site support India’s fortis memorial. I will have to wait and see what they say after they contact me back and assess my case.

[lewicki in reply to Eugmn]

Try University of Heidelberg as they do both and were the ones who developed the Isotopes.They mix LU-177 and AC-225. AC-225 is hard on the salivary glands . I saw it as what are the results and the glands are recovering.

[AlanLawrenson]

As of today, it is possible for non-resident to visit Australia for peptide Ligand Therapy. (Lu-177). Double vaccinated men only. Treatment costs only about US$7500 per infusion. Each infusion is typically 2 months apart. My late brother had 4 infusions that extended his life by 2 years. He use Therasonics Australia. I explain his battle in detail in the Chapter on Peptide Ligand Therapy in my best selling book "An ABC of Prostate Cancer Today - 3rd Edition". Its available from Amazon in print or Kindle formats.

[lcfcpolo in reply to AlanLawrenson]

Thank you Alan for the update on visiting Australia. Great book by the way. I have found it to be the most helpful by far for Advanced Prostate Cancer.

[AlanLawrenson in reply to lcfcpolo]

Thanks for your kind words about my book. Sadly in this mad world we are now living in, it has not been nearly as successful as its two predecessors.