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when is chemo used and does it prolong life say the average years it might give one i know this is a strange question but am really curious as some day ill have to use is my pc is agressive thanks happy christmas an honika to all my friends in this great club sincerely john q
I don't know much about chemotherapy. For what it is worth, I will share an impression or two with you followed by a case study that involves a long-time tennis buddy of mine. Generally speaking I think chemotherapy is typically used for treating Pca only after all else has been unsuccessful. How effective it is I suspect depends on the circumstances of the patient and the skill and expertise of the treatment team.
There is a clinic in California, the Compassionate Oncology Medical Group, that uses chemotherapy to treat recurrent Pca when and if their primary protocol Triple Blockade is unsuccessful. Presumably this clinic also treats late stage prostate cancer patients. It is this clinic that treated my friend. His story appears below:
At age 73 A. T. was diagnosed with a PSA of 25.5 and a Gleason score of 6(3+3). His treatment began with a round of Triple Blockaade(Lupron. Casodex and Proscar) for a period of thirteen months; PSA dropped to .1 ; PSA gradually rose over a one year period to 21.5; diagnosed with recurrent cancer and placed on an "antiangenogenic cocktail" for six months (Celebrex, Hytrin, Zomata, Thallidomide and Proscar) which resulted in no reduction in PSA; put back on Triple Blockade plus chemotherapy (Taxotere , Encyte, and Carboplatinnum along with two side effect inhibiters (Dexamethane and Zolafrom) plus intermittent antiangiogenic cocktail for a period of one year. A. T. has been cancer free for thirteen years. He continues a daily dosage of Proscar.
FYI Volumes of data on the Compassionate Oncology Medical Group is available on line (produced by the Compassionate Medical Oncology Group) simply Google them by name.
Hi John,
Chemotherapy used to be reserved for end stage treatment of advanced Pca. It was basically the last active treatment option with hopefully an ability to extend life by months. My how times have changed. Today we now have several varieties of chemo used at different stages during the treatment cycle for advanced Pca. Their effectiveness both as stand alone, or in combination with another treatment modality, is significantly different from what used to be the norm. Thus we can say that chemo is but, one of an increasing arsenal, in today's Medical Oncologist's box of new tricks, all of which factored to delaying disease progression and quality of life. All in all, we are entering exciting times in the treatment of advanced PCa. The day when it will be managed as a chronic disease, say like type 2 diabetes, is looming on the horizon.
