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I can be much more specific. My husband has been on HDT first with Lupron and then with Firmagon since fall of 2007, and even complete androgen blockade in February 2009 when bone mets were first detected. In spring of 2010 his PSA started climbing and the Casodex was removed in August 2010 with no effect on the PSA acceleration. The PSA reached a high of 1700 (it may have been higher a month later but was not measured at that time). He was then put on abiraterone which has since taken the PSA down to 50. My question is, if it is so obvious that the HDT does not deter the cancer, why is he not taken off it at least for long enough to see if he can tolerate being off the HDT given the serious side effects of cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and metabolic syndrome. I want to know if anyone else has gone that route and what was the outcome? And yes I know the abiraterone is given with androgen agonist or antagonist because that was the study protocol. This is an intellectual question because so much of the treatment for prostate cancer has been by group protocols rather by measuring individual response.
Aloha Jo,
This is a tough position for both of you. I am not in a position (of knowledge) to make recommendations to you. I would hope that you are spending sufficient time with your oncologist (& here I would be getting second & third doc's consults especially if you don't feel right about your primary oncologist) that you understand all the options that might be available to you. As we all know PCa can be very difficult to treat. I hope that you and your husband can talk this through with help from those people who know our minds better than we do. Please let us know how your path goes. I wish you the best.
There are other web sites (http://prostatecancerinfolink.net/) that review PCa research and re-report it so that we can understand what is going on.
Joe
