Hormone therapy and prostate cancer
Common Questions and Answers about Hormone therapy and prostate cancer
hormone
Hi Slippery,
I am sorry to hear about your condition and am also a PCa patient (Gleason 9, T3). Like you, I had a Radical Prostatectomy. My PSA test 90 days after surgery was already 0.7, AKA biochemical failure. In short, the surgery was too late.
As a result I have researched and studied prostate cancer conditions, treatments and prognosis literature until the wee hours of the morning trying to get a clear picture of what to do and what to expect.
9 so I went through radiation with hormone therapy for seven weeks. PSA went down to .01, after the hormone treatment. Follow up appointments were made, the latest PSA was 2.9 in April 2011, My oncologist said that the PSA reading is too low to be concerned with. I also had bone scan, MRI done and they found 5mm size growth in my pelvic area. My oncologist told me that he wants to see me in August for evaluation. I am concerned about the rising PSA.
1) then switched to ultrasensative assay at 8 weeks (0.04) and again at 12 weeks (0.01). Planning to start hormone therapy combined with radiation and it will probably be about 4 months post-surgery. I wish your Dad the best of luck and hope that he will obtain more than one expert opinion (medical oncologist, radiation oncologist, specializing in prostate cancer).
There are several options for the treatment of metastatic prostate cancer. These can be stratified into two general categories, hormonal therapy and chemotherapy. It is important to clarify that no treatments can cure advanced prostate cancer. The goal of these treatments is to control the spread and related symptoms.
Hormonal therapy, in broad terms, aims to limit the effect of testosterone in driving the spread of prostate cancer.
Thank you for your question.
In cases as such adjuvant therapy is recommended and consists classically of Radiation therapy (RT) to the prostate bed where the cancer is expected to be most often, and Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). Classically PCa starts spreading locally (surrounding tissue: prostate bed and bone ) and through the blood to the lungs and liver.
Ash Tewari, MD
http://www.cornellroboticprostate.org
This forum is for information only.
Hi and sorry about this. Yes it sounds correct. What was his Gleason score and what are his psa scores?
Dont worry as they have come a long way in curing this.
Thank you for your question. Nearly all prostate cancers become resistant to hormone therapy after a few months or years of treatment. In short, hormone therapies should be reevaluated after the PSA starts to rise. If you are currently taking bicalutamide you could switch to flutamide or nilutamide. The next step may be to move to secondary therapy ketoconazole.
It is important to continue to watch the PSA along with imagining to monitor bone activity.
A bone scan and CT is being booked. More than likely one day next week. The doctors have suggested hormone therapy and radiation as opposed to removing the prostate/surgery. They say it is because of his age. Is the surgery a better chance at improvement/length of life than radiation and hormone therapy? I'm not understanding the reasoning in choice of treatment. father is 73 years old.
He’ll prbly end up having to go on hormone therapy to keep the cancer at bay. It doesn’t kill the cancer, it just makes it kind of ‘dormant’ & slows the spread, but can keep men alive for many yrs. The big issue is preventing it from spreading into the bones. There may be some new treatments coming in the next couple of yrs that would be more on the ‘curative’ side, so delaying the spread is worth doing until these more ‘curative’ therapies become available.
I had prostate surgery by Robotics this past February. I have been on Hormone therapy for the last 5 months. I completed Radiation Therapy 1 month ago.
When my Prostate was removed the left nerve bundle was spared and the right one was infected. Everything else looked good and nothing else was infected.
It is believed that artificially raising the testosterone levels (by taking supplements) can trigger some prostate problems, even prostate cancer. The mechanisms are not clear but for the case of cancer, it is said that suddenly higher testosterone, at levels the orgasnism is not accustomed to, can awaken dormant cancerous cells that otherwise could remain inactive and harmless.
My question is that I have talked to people who have had mastectomies and no hormone therapy. First I want to know if HT is standard care in my case and seocnd I want to know if HT is standard with mastectomies for my type of cancer. While I understand that you cannot anser this for me, I want to know if in some medical circles HT is omitted for my situation. I am asking becasue I want to know if it is worth it for me to seek a second opinioin.
My radiotherapy ended on 16th of December for Prostate cancer. During Radio Therapy (IMRT-Intensity modulated radio therapy) several times doctors asked me whether I am having stomach pain or not? But at that time I had only experienced mild pain from time to time. If you are also under hormone therapy (LHRH) you always have gastric irritation and due to that you experience stomach pain unless you take anti acidity pills.
Did they give radiotherapy to abdomen area and nodes also?
After seeking several opinions, the concensus was that this was an aggressive cancer and adjuvant therapy (both hormone and radiation)should begin as soon as I had recovered from the operation in about 2-3 months (I haven't done this yet because my PSA has been undetectable, but I'm not sure that was the right choice.) Get a second opinion (Dr. Tewari gives sound advice).
I am a 54 yr old and found out less than a year ago I had prostate cancer. My initial PSA was at 27. That's twenty seven. My followup at 90 days rose to 29 and the urologist ordered a biopsy which determined cancer was present in all regions. I had robotic radical prostate to my January 2015. My first PSA test after surgery showed a PSA of .5. My urologist said he had hoped for around .1 but did not seem concerned. I just had my second test after surgery and my PSA has risen to .9.
I had prostate cancer in 2005 and had Proton Radiation treatments at Loma Linda University Medical Center in Loma Linda California. It has a 90% cure rate and little to no side effects. My psa is now .05 and I have no side effects from the cancer or the Proton Radiation.. Its like I was never sick and am well. Im not sure about your question, they told they could freeze it after radiation... or take lupron.. I do remember that dunno bout the other...
I am a prostate cancer patient aged 65. My Radiation Therapy (IMRT-Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy) of 35 days ended on 16th of December and I had some side effect, like increased frequency of urination, burning in rectum while passing stool & general fatigue, but were all withing tolerable limits and did not hinder with my day to day life.They are all gone now. I only have side effects of Hormonal Therapy well within tolerable limits, though uncomfortable.
I had Gleason score of 9.
Agree w/ what you said, auntiejessi. Bottom line, whatever the T level is, as long as PSA stays low, that’s a good sign. In fact, if T is hi & PSA remains low, that’s good news. When guys w/ prostate cancer go on hormone therapy, T drops very low & subsequently PSA drops significantly as well. The danger is, once you go off therapy & T levels recover to normal (which is expected), if PSA immediately starts rising again, that’s a bad sign.
If your dog is neutered, it will stop the levels of testosterone, which could cause prostate swelling and prostate cancer too. It would take a while to max. effect because he'd still have SOME testosterone in his system for a bit. But it would be a quicker option than medication. But it would be a good option only if he's generally in good fitness and condition for his age. The anaesthetic might stress him if he has heart or lung problems, or some other health problem.
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