Since radiotherapy December 2020, it has taken around fourteen months for my PSA to go from 0.07 to 1.2, with slow and steady progression of about 25% every four weeks. Obviously exponentially, I'd like to make sure it doesn't go from 7 to 1200 the next fourteen months!
The abiraterone is fighting a great rearguard action, but slowly failing. I’d like to keep it efficacious as long as possible.
I understand a switch of corticosteroids from prednisone to dexamethasone to halt or slow growth, which happens in a majority of cases, is particularly beneficial to those with lower PSA at the switch, and give longer mCRPC -free survival. See: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/300...
Has anyone had this experience with some success? Oncologist supportive? Based in UK.
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Tonyliv
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My MO approved the switch, although he seemed to have little faith in it working. My PSA has dropped from 74 to 66 after about 45 days on dexamethasone. I get blood work again this upcoming week and am hoping for a continued response. Like you, I am trying to "squeeze all the juice from the lemon" as possible from abiraterone. I've been on it for 3 years, initial PSA of 368, got it down as low as 2.5 after the first 2 years, year 3 has seen a slow steady increase,with big jumps this past few months. Best of luck to you, hope you get a good response.
Indeed, I had success switching from P to D for about 18 months (PSA started rising in May, similar to your curve, so I'm now at 2 point something or other, I'd guess....).
Switching is an innocuous (in our world) change in treatment, so I don't understand oncologists' dim view. I had to insist with my first oncologist, since sacked. I was told that they didn't like the "side effects" of D...uh, how about the side effect of me definitely having incurable cancer in my early 50s and - like all of us in this group - trying to get the most from one treatment before moving on to the uncertainty of another? I need intelligence in my care team, not high-mindedness.
It's not like this switch from P to D is new ground:
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