CTC MEANING

[Joeym1040]

I entered the SPLASH trial in Spet 2022 and had my first treatment in Dec 2022. I had mets from PSMA scan aZhang at Moffitt. He thought I had responded rather well to the treaments and suggested I shoudl get a CTC (curculating tumor) test and as long as that was under 5 perhaps Provenge treatment. The CTC came back at ZERO and Dr Zhang said my cancer was "not active". He recommended Provenge treatment (which I have applied for at my local Florida Cancer Center where my regular MO is. Dr Zhang think i might get another 6 months before we have to review again. I had not heard much about this CTC test before and we seem to be betting a lot on that result. We know you cant determine the effectiveness of Provenge but my MO thinks it's not a bad idea. Any thoughts?nd rising PSA of 7.49. There were no new mets so I had my next treatment in Feb 2023. No new mets from previous scan so next treatment was March 29, 2023. Some two new minor mets were detected on a scan prior to this treatment so it was determined that i had progression and was out of the trial. My Doctor at Moffit challenged this and i had a further scan on May 23rd which still showed the two minor mets but i received the 4th and final treatment on May 24th. I went back on July 18th for 8 week follow up scans which showed no progression. However since i did show those 2 minor new mets previously they determined I was out of the trial and would no longer be followed by the trial sponsor. Although during the trial my PSA was never taken by the trial. I was however seeing my local MO and my PSA readings during this time were as follows:11/22/2022 3.4101/09/2023 7.4904/03/2023 4.9907/17/2023 4.67Since I was out of the trial a PA at Moffitt said chemo was my next option. I was not ready to jump into chemo so I scheduled a visit with Dr Zhang at Moffitt. He thought i responded rather well to the treatment in the trial and saw no need to rush into chemo. He suggested a CTC test and if result was under 5 proceed with Provenge. CTC came back at ZERO and Dr Zhang said my cancer was "not active". He recommended we start Provenge and would probably wait 6 months before reviewing unless there is some major event. I have scheduled the Provenge at my local Florida Cancer Specialist where my regular MO is. I have not heard my about this CTC test before and it seems to be an important part of the diagnosis. Any thoughts?

[Tall_Allen]

If no cancer is showing up in your blood, I doubt Provenge will be useful. Provenge only works when your dendritic cells are activated by dead cancer antigens in your blood. I think Provenge works best when combined with therapies that increase dead cancer antigens in your blood, like radiation.

[Joeym1040 in reply to Tall_Allen]

TA - Thanks as always.