Study: Testosterone Recovery After Androgen-Deprivation Therapy Linked to Improved Survival in High-Risk Prostate Cancer

[duckcalldan]

Interesting study on the importance of post-ADT testosterone recovery for long-term health. I’m curious if this suggests that 18 months of ADT rather than 24 is equally effective for my node-positive 4+3 disease. ascopost.com/news/february-...

[Tall_Allen]

No, it does not suggest that. For node-positive PCa, the SOC is 3 years of ADT and 2 years of abiraterone.

[Derf4223]

If one reads the cited article, they will see it says it is _eventual_ T recovery that matters, not the time to get there. They will also see i says there are not treatment changes indicated yet.

[Don_1213]

There is an interesting (at least to me..) conclusion:

"According to Dr. Nabid, these results provide evidence that restoring testosterone to normal levels after androgen-deprivation therapy may confer a survival advantage, warranting further exploration into strategies for mitigating prolonged androgen-deprivation therapy–induced hypogonadism. Although androgen-deprivation therapy remains a cornerstone of high-risk prostate cancer management, added Dr. Nabid, efforts to optimize endocrine recovery after treatment should be considered. Prospective trials assessing strategies to promote testosterone recovery while maintaining oncologic efficacy are warranted to guide future therapeutic decision-making, he concluded."

That combined with some other recent studies showing much the same - no increase in recurrent PCa when T recovers - but an overall longer life due to mitigating the effects hypogonadism has on the body to me, makes a reasonable argument to try TRT if the patient's T level doesn't recover after ADT (or as in my case - recovered then over a period of about a year disappeared again.) One study actually showed lower recurrence rates for men who had normal T levels compared to castrate T levels...

I'll try to keep up on my TRT reports - but - from a quality of life perspective it's done some good things: More energy - I might have sold the motorcycle too soon, relief to some extent to the pain and cramping in my feet and legs. I can now walk about 3x further than I could before. Still not going to run a marathon, but it is continuing to improve. I get horny once in a while - yea! And generally have a better outlook on life. I had two PSA tests since I started and nothing startling happened. I expect to get one perhaps next week so I'll be able to report on the PSA and T levels then.