Brain metastases

[Noel91]

Hi there, asking for your help for my father.Cancer gave us a lot of time keeping my father to not to worry about it (3 years and a half on Zytiga). However, yesterday we realized by going to emergency my father had metastasis all over his body, including the brain.( He previously had metastasis at the lung and he received SBRT)

He is receiving radiation to the brain, and doc says next steps are to start with doctexactel.Any thoughts on next steps?

At this point, what can we expect? How long do you think he can be alive?

Thanks in advance for your help

[Hidden]

May the Lord have mercy on your father . It’s such a terrible highway ! Love is the only solace it this . Thank you for sharing . Cherish him . 😔💔

[Noel91 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks so much Lulu❤️

[Hidden in reply to Noel91]

😔✌️

[GP24]

Brain metastases can be treated with SBRT. Docetaxel should be the next step. It often works well with lung metastases.

[Noel91 in reply to GP24]

Thanks GP24 , how much time do you think we have? Thanks for your response

[CAMPSOUPS in reply to Noel91]

No one has that answer. Not even the Dr's.Please try to live in the moment.

Life without estimated expiration dates hanging over us is so much more of a pleasure.

[GP24 in reply to Noel91]

I cannot tell how long he will live. He got small cell lung cancer, neuroendocrine tumor, Gleason 9 and and as you write "mets all over his body". I cannot make a guess for that situation.

[Hidden]

Sorry about your situation.

I understand the reluctance here to answer your question about life expectancy, but I think you should be able to have some general idea of what to expect.

Here's an article on the subject which includes prognosis and overall survival stats.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

[CAMPSOUPS in reply to Hidden]

To each his or her own. At dx my regrets, my overwhelming panic, my sadness, the end of the future I thought I would have ( as Adoh put it so well) the weight of the world were immense and stupidly I put myself thru more hell by trying to gauge my expectancy. I stay far from that these days. Just the thought of it puts a lump in my throat. I enjoy every day and look forward to successful future treatments when the time comes in lieu of progression.Lucky. That's what I have been so far.

[Hidden in reply to CAMPSOUPS]

I appreciate your comments. I feel the same way that you and others do about just taking each day and living in the present. But regardless of how you and I might feel about the answer to that question, others have the right to ask it and get a straight answer. I was a similar situation with my dad, and I felt like I was being treated like a child.

It's different for those who are newly diagnosed and those who are in late stage with poor prognosis. The newly diagnosed have many treatments available to them and the variability of how well and long they work makes it much harder to estimate life expectancy.

[CAMPSOUPS in reply to Hidden]

My lazy brain. I should have tried to include that I agreed that an answer was somewhat her right. Someone had to make the attempt and you did. For lack of a better word (lazy brain again) I commend you on that.

I just lazily thru out my first reaction.

And yes definitely those diagnosed with low gleason, involvement I can see actually quite a bit of expectancy research. I probably would.

But yea not for me.

This forum has really been a big help, relief for me.

Pretend you know nothing and enter PSA 1621 in a internet search as I did at dx. Nothing good came of that lol.

[CAMPSOUPS in reply to Hidden]

I haven't looked at the link you gave her. Typically this type of info. is outdated and the current treatment outlooks aren't part of the mix.Should someone caution her in how she perceives the info. in the link given to her?

[Noel91 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks both for your comments, it seems to be use cases review until 2010 so I am not sure if the treatments have improved overtime. moreover he still did not go through Docetxatel so I do not know...

Asking for the time because I am thinking of requesting part time in my job, to spend the most time possible with him

[Hidden in reply to Noel91]

I've read that combinations with platinum-based chemotherapies might work in situations like his.

Always a good idea to spend as much time as possible together, regardless of the prognosis.

[BluesmanNick in reply to Noel91]

Part time is good. Time wins out over money every time. Enjoy each other's company. 😉👍

[Tall_Allen]

Usually, it is growing in from the cranium. They should be able to reduce those with radiation too.

[Noel91 in reply to Tall_Allen]

Always appreciate your response here. He is now receiving that buy do we know when can we expect progression here?

[Radtech40]

Sorry to hear this. No one knows a timeline especially when it comes to cancer. Everyone responds differently to treatment and there are so many types of chemo, ADTs, trials, and so on that can be tried when one fails. They can do radiation for the brain mets, my friend did SBRT radiation for his brain mets and then one small spot remained so they used the gamma knife and that worked to get rid of it, that was 3 years ago and he's still here. My dad had 2 heart attacks and 3 strokes, bounced back from those then diagnosed in 2016 stage 4 APC with mets to the base of the skull, humerus, ribs, sternum, both illiacs, T & L spine and its been 6 years and he is still here and doing well. No one knows when anyones expiration date will be, so we need to hope for the best and cherish every moment. Good luck to your dad and your family!

[AlanMeyer in reply to Radtech40]

Hello Radtech40,

Your father has an amazing medical history. If I understand it right, he had two heart attacks and three strokes, and after that he was diagnosed with stage 4 PCa, and now, 6 years later he's still "doing well".

He's one helluva fighter.

Alan

[Radtech40 in reply to AlanMeyer]

Thanks! Yes! It’s crazy, one stroke knocked out the feeling in his left leg then he got the feeling all back the last one made him lose his speech and he got that back 100% , I call him the bionic man, he’s 89 and smart as a whip!

[Noel91 in reply to Radtech40]

Radtech40 you gave me hope today. I will pry my father can have the same prognosis.Did your friend has Prostate cancer as well or was a different one?

[Radtech40 in reply to Noel91]

Prostate cancer. He did chemo and radiation in the beginning. Then started Xtandi about 2 years in failed , they tried Zytiga it worked a year then failed that, they did chemo then they threw back in the Zytiga after he finished that and it worked again, I had not heard of doing this but it’s working and it is still working round 2 and it’s been many years. He also had a few small positive nodes on one lung which seemed to help those, they’re stable and smaller. There are so many drug combos that can be tried until one works. Also don’t read the prognoses articles online, a lot are not updated and we have so many more options these days. Hang in there.

[Noel91 in reply to Radtech40]

Thanks so much! I have hope now because it is true that he Did not even try chemotherapy so hope that can work

[j-o-h-n]

Noel91, Has your dear Dad ever have a melanoma? (or may have one he doesn't know about)...

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

john Thursday 02/17/2022 5:16 PM EST

[Noel91 in reply to j-o-h-n]

No, he ndoesn't. Are you thinking on that because the cancer metastasized to the brain? We asked for Keytruda but doc said that did not demonstrate effectiveness in PC