What can be used with hormone therapy besides Abiretarone

Posted by dan67 @dan67, 1 day ago

Abiretarone Has been taken since the beginning of this year. Last week a blood test showed Liver damage was occurring. I’m off of Abiretarone. PSA had dropped to 0 after hormone and Abiretarone meds were started. What is a good substitute medicine for Abiretarone.

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

Androgen Receptor Pathway Inhibitor options —> Zytiga (abiraterone), Erleada (apalutimide), Xtandi (enzalutimide), or Nubeqa (darolutamide).

REPLY

There are three more drugs Erleada (apalutamide), Xtandi (Enzalutamide) and Nubeqa (Darolutamide). Of the three Nubeqa Has the least side effects, Most people don’t notice any side effects. I’m on Nubeqa after 2 1/2 years on Zytiga and have been undetectable for the last 28 months. I know a lot of people Taking Nubeqa that really like the fact that they don’t have any side effects from it. Some take it as their only drug, not taking ADT since it suppresses testosterone from helping prostate cancer grow.

All three drugs are effective and a lot better than Zytiga on the body. Erleada and Xtandi Do cause fatigue for some of the people taking them. Not everybody has a problem.

I’ve had prostate cancer for 16 years and Nubeqa Has been the best thing I’ve done to manage my cancer.

Speak to your doctor about this and find out what will work for you?

REPLY

Thanks for your experience and references. I’ll be seeing doctor recommendations in several weeks.

REPLY

Some recent — and slightly controversial — retrospective research released this year has suggested there's no big difference among the -lutamides as far as side-effects go (there hasn't been a major comparative clinical trial on humans yet, just a hypothetical benefit that Bayer claims for Nubeqa based on in-vitro testing, and some anecdotal evidence), so take whatever you can get.

The -lutamides are somewhat more effective than Abiraterone and don't require you to take a steroid with them, which is a huge win.

The downside is that they're insanely expensive down in the U.S. (like, $12K/month or more). If your insurance will cover one, great; if not, see if any of the patient-access programmes will take you in (I was in the Erleada patient-access programme here in Canada until the Ontario Ministry of Health added Erleada/Apalutamide to its formulary in 2022).

Best of luck!

REPLY

If you're taking any supplements that could also be the cause. My husband was desperate early on and took those "unmentionable" COVID supplements plus turmeric -it has another name too
His liver numbers kept climbing to the point when the hospital called and said he was in liver failure, he felt and looked fine, quit all the supplements but it triggered an ultrasound and a talk with a liver transplant doctor....but once he quit everything the liver got back to normal and has been fine since

REPLY
Please sign in or register to post a reply.