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Lupron Treatment Duration: How long were you on it?
Prostate Cancer | Last Active: Oct 13 8:11am | Replies (159)Comment receiving replies
This won't help much but, I'm interested in your research here. I think you are basically correct, it's more of a delay tactic than anything else.
From what I've found ADT seems to just starve/weaken the cancer cells so they can't multiply but doesn't actually kill them. My guess is it's believed that weakening the cells this way may make IMRT and other radiation protocols more effective.
If this is correct, then yes the time on ADT does seem arbitrary. My surgeon wants me on ADT for two years but doesn't really give a good reason as to why.
My radiation oncologist seems ambivalent on the subject and tells me ADT only accounts for a 3%-5% better outcome when taken with IMRT. I did see stats that suggest 18 mos to 2 years is 35(ish) % better than 6 mos, but if that only applies to 3%-5% of all patients anyway......?
If all this is true, taking it for two years seems to be for the purpose of letting you have that time with little or no cancer growth, if there is any cancer left. So, are we just postponing the inevitable by taking this? Creating time for better treatments to hopefully come along?
Unless somebody here or on my team convinces me otherwise. I'd rather stop at 18 mos, (seems to be a new common time frame) and see what happens. at least if I'm not resistant, I can go back on it, if the PSA starts to climb. No?
Sorry I couldn't offer more help / info, I'm just going down the same road mentally and I'm interested in others opinions on this as well.
Best of luck to you!
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For what it’s worth, I was on a ADT for almost 11 years. During that time we were never able to get my PSA below 2.0 and periodically it would get up to as high as 10 to 15. About two years ago we added Zytiga (an antiandrogen drug) which helped for a while. Two months ago, I became so tired of having to get injections every three months with Lupron or Eligard, that I decided to have a bilateral orchiectomy. Sadly, my PSA is continuing to rise, up to about 8 now, even with no circulating testosterone, except the little bit that comes from the adrenal glands so I am no longer on ADT, per se. but I am still getting Zytiga. To the best of my knowledge metastatic prostate cancer is not curable so all we can do at this point is try to control it and hope that someday a treatment will come along that can cure it before it takes us down. My oncologist says that prostate cancer cells eventually figure out how to do without testosterone, and/or create their own. Meanwhile, I’m relegated to treatments that will hopefully find and eradicate the existing cancer cells in my body, looking at radium 223, chemo and Pluvecto currently.
My best wishes and prayers go up to all you guys who are struggling with this seemingly never ending battle!