Should you start ADT after radiation treatment or not?

Posted by handera @handera, Jun 17 7:47am

AI is helping to answer one of the most difficult decisions a man faces after choosing radiation treatment for his PCa.

Do I need to start androgen deprivation therapy, or not?

The clinical information from 5 large phase 3 randomized trials was combined with digitized pathology slides from biopsies in which AI machine learning was used to extract features from the pathology slides, some of which could not be detected by a trained pathologist.

The ArteraAI biomarker that was developed and validated was able to show that 67% of men who would normally have been recommended for ADT would NOT benefit from this add-on treatment.

ArteraAI is the only predictive short-term ADT tool and the only AI tool recommended by the NCCN Guidelines® for Prostate Cancer.

Has anyone had this test performed? If so, what was your result and did it impact your ADT decision?
https://www.urologytimes.com/view/dr-spratt-on-an-ai-model-predictive-of-hormone-therapy-benefit-in-men-with-prostate-cancer

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Prostate Cancer Support Group.

@bluegill

My Lupron shots were $13,000 each. Insurance paid for all but $500 for each shot. In U.S.

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It's absurd that a 50 year old drug (Lupron was invented in 1973) should be so costly.

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@bluegill

My Lupron shots were $13,000 each. Insurance paid for all but $500 for each shot. In U.S.

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Yikes! My monthly Firmagon shots would have been CA $550 (US $400) if I had to pay for them myself, and a month's worth of Orgovyx pills would cost the same. My Erleada would cost about 10× that much (CA $5,500/month, US $4,000) if I had to pay for it.

I thought *those* prices were absurdly high. I guess I'm a bit naïve still.

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@northoftheborder

Is Lupron cheaper for U.S. insurance companies than Firmagon or Orgovyx, or is it purely a matter of which one the medical team thinks would be most appropriate?

Going from Firmagon (monthly injection) or Orgovyx (daily pill) has improved my quality of life enormously. I no longer have the huge swelling, the rash, or the 3 days of flu/COVID-like symptoms I got after every shot.

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I have never regretted choosing Orgovyx over Lupron!

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@scottbeammeup

I wish I had known about this before getting Lupron, which has been one of the worst experiences of my life. Doctors either ignore the side effects or pretend they don't exist.

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Yours is a double whammy from the Lupron treatment; bad side effects and doc's side-stepping those problems.
While my doc had me start Lupron post-RALP, he did also start Prolia shots for the potential bone loss. He did comment on the likely side effects but initially had no suggestions for mitigating them.
I did find Paroxetine to help with the hot flashes - my worst side effect - through my family doc (PCP). I'm lucky that some of the possible problems didn't happen for me to any great extent.
My and our brotherhood's prayers are with you as you battle both the disease and side effects.
Be tough, push for some relief, and never give up. PC is a killer that needs to be killed.

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My Lupron shots were similar at $12,000 US each. Thankfully 100% covered by Medicare Parts A & B.

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@grandpun

My Lupron shots were similar at $12,000 US each. Thankfully 100% covered by Medicare Parts A & B.

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FYI- my Trelstar shot is 8,000 dollars every 3 months. The VA pays for it as I got the PC from agent Orange in Vietnam.

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