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Hubby, diagnosed in June 2013 with stage IV, metastatic, PSA was 51,Gleason 7 (4+3). bone mets in ribs only and lymph nodes. Failed Lupron after 4 months, started zytiga. Has been on Zytiga since 12/2013. besides fatigue, no energy (which we blame from no testosterone) - he has severe SEVERE anxiety attacks. QUESTION: Doctor offered him to go off Zytiga for 3 months to start Provenge. Any suggestions? He is scared to stop meds. His current psa which is checked every 6 weeks fluctuates between 4 and 6. He is scared - if he stops zytiga for the 3 months the cancer will become aggressive. Bone and Cat scans show no longer show tumor detection in ribs. everything is going well. any suggestions of what to do and/or stories of zytiga and provenge? he can always go back to the zytiga because he has not failed yet.???
You can not do zytiga and provenge at the same time because the steroid (prednisone) compromises the immune system. You might be able to switch to xtandi and provenge since xtandi does not require the steroid. This is pretty much pushing the envelope and may require him to enter a trial. Just a thought.
BTW....Xtandi might work as well as zytiga and maybe better.
Not a decision of combining the treatments. He is currently on Zytiga. The doctor has given him the option to stop Zytiga. He will have to stop for 3 months (while monitoring his psa levels every two weeks) - and starting provenge. He is undecided on what to do. Stay on Zytiga or start Provenge.
THANK YOU!! I know the decision is all his but I like to be there by his side. The only thing that scares him is the three months off all meds.. but with his oncologist monitoring him closely every 2 weeks, I think he should be fine.
Hi Kathy My husband got Provenge and Zytiga We did some study about Provenge and what we came up with Provenge works best is 1. psa is at the lowest 2. less burden of disease 3. your healthest time. His psa was going up rapidly so we did not want to wait. He did not have any bone mets. He works and plays everyday with out too much pain. Psa does not always come down with Provenge. It was another 13 months before his bone mets started showing up, we like to think it was due to Provenge. He did start Zytiga and it did not help his Psa was 42.7 when we started Zytiga and went up to 99.5. He went on Xtandi and in 30 days his psa dropped to 59. My thoughts are get the treament of provenge now because with cancer you never know about tomorrow. My husband goes tomorrow to another psa and we pray it drops even more. Hoping for the best for you and yours, Carol
There is a clinical study that shows you can be on both. I did not stop Zytiga or any other meds when I had Provenge treatment earlier this year. No major side effects and PSA has continued to drop.
