The Role of Repurposed Drugs in Prostate Cancer Therapy

@daveys In a comment up above I did list one of them. There are many, from many different sources, but the ones I am most familiar with, and have been learning about, are the ones listed in the book "Fight Cancer Like a Man" by Dr. Stephen Peterutti. I'm sensitive to copyright infringement, so I am not comfortable continuing to list them, as I did previously list them as part of a conversation started by another member in this group. However, because I want people to have the information and do their own research, I will list them here, but this will be the last time I will specifically list the repurposed drugs included in the above-referenced book. If people want his specific recommendations/protocols and rationale for those, I highly recommend getting the book and spending time reviewing the information. The paperback version is currently $19.99 on Amazon, and the Kindle version is $8.99.

The list of repurposed drugs Dr. Petteruti includes in his book are Sirolimus (Rapamune), Metformin, Low-Dose Naltrexone (LDN), Doxycycline, Atorvastatin, Ivermectin, Menbendazole, Mistletoe (Viscum), and Itraconazole. I discussed Atorvastatin in quite a bit of detail in an above comment if you would like to reference it.

I can understand people's interest in having "a list". But, as I stated in my original post/question... I am interested in what others have learned about repurposed drugs for prostate cancer. This needs to be a "conversation" to provide the most benefit. I understand input will run the gamut from "there is no such thing as repurposed drugs helping fight prostate cancer" to "this or that repurposed drug cured my friend's prostate cancer". I get that, and I welcome it all... the spectrum of experiences and opinions. We each have our own individual process of taking in information, determining what makes sense to us, deciding whether or not to pursue researching it, acting upon it, etc.

I have to tell you, reading Dr. Petteruti's rationale for considering the above-noted repurposed drugs, has definitely spurred me to do additional research. His approach is that repurposed drugs can serve a purpose "in the arsenal" of fighting prostate cancer, he, in no way, conveys that they are the sole method. We need to make our bodies "inhospitable" to cancer, period. And if a repurposed drug can serve that purpose, we need to at least be aware of that possibility, research it for ourselves, and, at the end of the day, come to our own conclusions, and act accordingly.

I do think we need to have a conversation about "care professionals", which came up in an earlier response to my post. Who do we trust as authorities in our health journey, and why? I will provide my thoughts on this when I have the opportunity to come back to this forum. Thank you.

@heavyphil
I would call those as "supportive" or "complementary" - drugs that can possibly make cancer cells more effected by ACTUAL cancer drugs and "in theory" of course, never proven to do so but nobody did randomized trials either, I guess.

Estrogen is proven to control PC the same way as regular ADT does , so Estrogen is truly repurposed drug.

PC's "indolence" (even in the most aggressive form) is both blessing and a problem.

Blessing because patients can live for many years, but it is a problem since PC is not easily and readily recognized by our immune system and that is why immunotherapy development goes so slow. That is why patients have to be on ADT for so long since PC cells are so slow to divide and to die off after radiation.

@surftohealth88 An MD firmer patient of mine was under AS; had G3+3 like 4 times in a row…docs wanted to cut.
He went on a regimen of metformin, doxycycline, Vit D and a statin.
A year later, no G3+3…not even PIN! Lost contact with him since retirement.
I’ve read about this regimen since then; and if it works at all it’s probably only effective in very early low grade cases…but it worked for him.
Phil

@heavyphil

Good for him 👍 !

Maybe he had spontaneous remission - that happens too : ))).

We will never know what helps without clinical randomized trails : (((. Perhaps it will happen somewhere in Europe again (like it did for Estogen patch) , where health care is not so money driven : (((.

Ran across this today and found it very interesting.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11595001/

@doyourresearch
WOW !

GREAT FIND @doyourresearch 🙌 !!!

"Two antihypertensive medications are in Phase II trials for prostate cancer: carvedilol and propranolol. Carvedilol is assessed before surgery, while propranolol is examined preoperatively alone or with etodolac. A retrospective study shows that long-term atenolol use significantly reduces prostate cancer risk by over 50% .

In vitro and in vivo studies show that captopril and candesartan inhibit prostate cancer cells despite not undergoing clinical trials. Captopril increases p53 expression, inducing apoptosis in prostate cancer cells, while candesartan reduces tumor growth and angiogenesis by inhibiting VEGF expression. Hydralazine induces demethylation in prostate cancer cells, re-expressing suppressed genes "

@kaphur There’s really nothing current online about this herbal combo; most recent is 2009.
I did find that most of its benefits (pain relief) were from prescription meds - not herbal effects - in the original formula, as you said.
Also, it is not approved or for legal sale in the US.
I have nothing against alternative/herbal medicine - I’d drink lighter fluid if studies showed that it REALLY worked!
And many of the SE’s that men experience with ADT are also found in this supplement so why not just take Orgovyx?
Nor did this product do anything of consequence for castrate resistant men.
There are just so many of these miracle herbs out there, but sooner or later someone, somewhere will get it right. Thanks for sharing!
Phil

Do you mean what are often called "drugs prescribed off-label"?

@surftohealth88 I was/am on a lot of these (aspirin, metFORMIN, pioglitazone, statin, and ACE) along with frequent sex. The net result is I got advanced prostate cancer, so they did not work for me.

If any of these associations are proved it will probably be done by a public health service to reduce costs since there is no profit for pharma sponsored research. Many of the drugs mentioned have dangerous side effects or interactions (ARB plus ACE, etc.) so care should be taken. However, for believers who are willing to pay 5x as much and go to 3 times a day (vs single) dosing you should be able to get a prescription for Captopril to replace whatever ACE or ARB currently used. I doubt any statin effect is limited to atorvastatin (Lipitor) and am hesitant to change from a statin that is working.

Since many cancers including prostate and breast are associated with being overweight, the GLP-1 are useful if diabetic or you need help losing weight. They have shown a high association with lack of progression for breast and a few other cancers. Not clear if due to the drug or the related weight loss. I also endorse the frequent sex. Even if the therapy does not work the side effects are well tolerated.

@jim18
I agree with all that you said : ))) !

Unfortunately no magic bullet yet for PC and I don't think anybody should start using meds without those above mentioned studies being done since ,as you said, side effects are numerous and some drugs just do not mix well. Extreme care should be taken and doctor's oversight is needed.
My husband is on Lipitor for 20 years - did not make any difference for him in regard to PC.

I do not know what particular statin do you use but be careful if it is Crestor since it has high interaction with Nubeqa if you ever need it (we were warned by MO). Nubeqa has interaction with every statin but he mentioned Crestor as possible problem.

Crestor was suggested last year to my husband and me and we both had horrible side effects - I had total insomnia and my husband had vision changes (double vision) - just horrible all around. We would not even know that it was a Crestor that was causing all of that if I did not start using it too and than looked into side effects. I listed them all to my husband and he yelled : "My god, I have those occasional vision problems and I thought I have to see my ophthalmologist ASAP and who knows what is going on with my eyes " ! And it was actually Crestor that was causing it. It also pushed his A1C and fasting glucose up (normal levels but were never that high) . As soon as we stooped using it all went back to normal. I call Crestor "evil drug" lol 😜. I am saying all of this to warn people to NEVER use drugs on their own and always check for interactions and always check the list of side effects etc.

At the same time I am very happy to see that research is done on all fronts 😃 and it brings hope and a lot of comfort to me .