drug vacation

[gsun]

Who had PSA level come back all the way down after a drug vacation? I want to do a holiday when my Lupron wears off in a couple months. PSA now is .053. Been on Lupron and abi for six years.

[6357axbz]

I took a holiday after long time (years) lupron and Abi. First stopped lupron for about 16 months while still taking Abi. Then stopped Abi for the next 14 months until my undetectable PSA rose to 0.1. Then went back on Abi followed by Orgovyx two months late. PSA went back to undetectable after being back on Abi for a month.

Unfortunately I don’t think you can go by others experience. Our PCAs behave very differently.

[gsun in reply to 6357axbz]

You also had radiation which can give better results

[6357axbz in reply to gsun]

I had 28 sessions of IMRT to fry my prostate. About 18 months later, as part of Dr Chad Tangs EXTEND clinical trial I had my 4 Mets radiated (28 more RT sessions). The holiday I referred to above occurred about 2 years after

[NecessarilySo]

I took a four-year vacation while my PSA rose to 36, (2016-20). Then I resumed Lupron and PSA fell to <0.1, where it has stayed for 3 years. In retrospect I would not advise it; metastases did arise.

[gsun in reply to NecessarilySo]

What do you mean by "arise"? New ones? The existing ones got bigger? Four years is a long time and PSA rise to 36 is maybe too high. I was advised to go to 5-10 and then resume treatment.

[NecessarilySo in reply to gsun]

You are correct. A couple of lymph nodes showed activity on a PET scan and i felt a bit of pain back then, but they vanished after resuming Lupron, and with heat, as I describe in my bio.

[Apisdorsata]

I've had four vacations in 8 1/2 years of PC history. The longest was a bit over two years. But I was getting radiation to oligomets prior to the vacations. I never let my PSA get over 1.5 before restarting treatment.

[gsun in reply to Apisdorsata]

How many mets did you have?

[Apisdorsata]

One the first time. Then two. Then four but all of them from the beginning in the sacrum so still semi-localized Though all in bone, usually bad news.. You get the picture. I'm off meds now. Scan in June. Likely I'm done with RT. But hoping for a met in an area that could be radiated. Sure, it is whack-a-mole but where it's radiated the cancer has never come back and I get some time off meds.

[gsun in reply to Apisdorsata]

Mine are in the bones.

[j-o-h-n]

Famous Quote by three distinguished scholars, Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard:

'YOU PAYS YOUR MONEY AND YOU TAKES YOUR CHANCE".

Good Luck, Good Health and Good humor.

j-o-h-n

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

chances

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

The idiom “You pays your money, you takes your choice” first appeared in print in 1846 in the London magazine Punch.

The late, great American journalist William Safire (1929–2009) wrote a piece about it in The New York Times newspaper (February 28, 1988, section 6, page 16).

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n

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

You digress…

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

As Curly screams, Moe, Larry, the cheese.

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

Was one of the rats who are major model species used in several biomedical fields, notably in drug development and toxicology, including carcinogenicity testing.

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n

[j-o-h-n]

Cambridge Dictionary :

you pays your money and you takes your choice/chance

But what the hell do the Brits know anyway?

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n

[Hawk56]

here's my clinical history.

After triplet therapy which I started in Jan17 and ended with my last Lupron shot in May 18, I was on a break for 4+ years.

In April, assuming labs come back as before, PSA and T undetectable, we will come off treatment, 12 months of Orgovyx and SBRT, actively monitor with labs and consults every three months, image again when PSA climbs to .5-1 and go from there. How long will that be, who knows...

Clinical history

[gsun in reply to Hawk56]

Thanks for the detailed info. Good luck on your next vacation.

[jfoesq]

I am 11+ years with metPC and had 3 vacations in my first 5 years- each vacation was shorter than the previous one. My PSA went to <.05 (which is the measurement used at MSKCC) after returning to ADT each time. ADT started to “fail” for me about 24 months ago when PSA began to rise. When it reached .37 a PSMA scan was done and my MO felt that one of my tumors was responsible for the rise, so it was radiated and I stayed on ADT. PSA has been rising again (.05,.05,.06,.09,.14) and when it reaches .20 I will be scanned again and we will decide what to do then.

[gsun in reply to jfoesq]

Then you haven't had a vacation in the last six years?

[jfoesq in reply to gsun]

Correct

[Derf4223]

Sounds like a plan. A bad plan.

[gsun in reply to Derf4223]

lots of people have been successful.