trying to stay positive

[ChickenNuggets20]

Hi all!

My dad was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer about 7 years ago. I’m sorry, I don’t know the Gleason. Unfortunately at the time it has already metastasized to nearby lymphnodes and the tumor was attached the colon so surgery was not an option.

He has had various treatments over the years. Starting with radiation, which kept it at bay for a bit until 2020 when it began growing again and ultimately spread to his liver. He then started docetaxel (with the injection a day or two later sorry I don’t know what it was called) which worked well up until December 2023 when his numbers very slowly started to creep up into the low 100s. They played around with dosing but PSA still continued to rise

At the end of July he started pluvicto and had two injections but his numbers continued to increase and it was discontinued

About a month ago he went for a scan to and the tumor on his liver is now 14cm, his skin had been turning yellow/gray and he was very lethargic.

3ish weeks ago he met with his oncologist who told us the last option is cabazitaxel and that if it didn’t work, he would likely have weeks left as his liver was barely functioning.

That same day he did the cabazitaxel, a low dose, and has been feeling great since. Minimal side affects except fatigue. His coloring is back to normal and he has no pain at all. He had bloodwork done this week and his PSA went from 395 to 466.

We are so grateful he is feeling good but confused. His doctor aLeo expressed the same confusion we are feeling. He feels great but numbers continue to go up. Plan is to re-do the lab work the day before the second treatment and do second treatment next week.

Any words of encouragement, shared experiences and advice are greatly appreciated!!

[Nusch]

I can’t offer specific advice or personal experience, but I’m here to encourage you. Take each day as a gift, especially as quality of life improves. It seems like your dad is responding well to this treatment, and it’s likely this therapy will add meaningful time. That’s what we’re all hoping for. The longer he stays well, the better the chances for new therapies to emerge. There are many Phase 2 and Phase 3 studies underway, and I’m confident there are warriors in this forum who can share updates and insights.”

[ChickenNuggets20 in reply to Nusch]

Thank you so much! We are hoping he will continue to feel good!

[God_Loves_Me]

Hello

I am NOT doctor, I am NOT medical advisor. Here is my personal opinion.

Please schedule appointment with radiations oncologist and see if dr has opportunity to radiate liver and kill the cancer tumor. I had experience that my primary oncologist never agreed but I did it and I am feeling great after that

"Selective internal radiation therapy (SIRT) is a way of giving radiotherapy treatment for cancer in the liver. This can be cancer that started in the liver or cancer that has spread to the liver from somewhere else. "

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

Options 2 :

Please talk to other doctors and see if they can enroll him in clinical trials like ARX517 , AMG 509 or other clinical trial that works for him

My best advice please talk to radiations oncologist and call nearest clinical trials and see if there any clinical trials that works for him

[ChickenNuggets20 in reply to God_Loves_Me]

thank you so much!! I will definitely look into these suggestions and bring it up with the oncologist next week!

[davebliz]

I can only give you my personal experience with Cabazitaxel . I'm stage 4, 6 years in. I've had extensive bone metastasis. Recently I got tumors on my lungs. They started me on Cabazitaxel and I've had 6 sessions. Just got scan results and the lung tumors have decreased significantly. And the side effects from the Cabazitaxel haven't been too bad.

[ChickenNuggets20]

I’m so sorry you have been going through this but happy to hear Cabazitaxel seems to be working pretty good!

We are hoping the PSA will start decreasing after the second treatment!

[j-o-h-n]

Greetings ChickenNuggets20,

Please update your dear Dad's bio. Good Idea is to copy and paste your post (above) into his bio. Maybe add his date and his location also. All info is voluntary but helps him/you and helps us too. Thank you!!!

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n

[ChickenNuggets20 in reply to j-o-h-n]

I will! Thanks!!

[Soton4ever]

I don't have any other advice than to spend time with him, don't think about what to say or not to say. Just be there. In my profile you can find my post about my dads journey, and it might give you some hope that it doesn't have to be that bad. Just message me if you want to talk or have any questions ❤️