Lupron or Not at 76?

@pesquallie Thank you for the links!

@toomany
Sorry to hear you had that experience. For some people testosterone can cause the cancer to grow. For those that are castrate resistant, the opposite may be true. You never know which way you’re gonna go because everybody’s different. It’s very frustrating to try to know the right answer under these inconsistent conditions.

What I'm about to share here on TRT is 100% strictly anecdotal, but I think that it is nevertheless, worth noting:

I was diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer and treated extensively in 2018. My PSA remained undetectable for 8-years, and my total (blood) testosterone levels, consistently idled below 200 ng/mL, for almost 7-years. However, my physical strength had been significantly impaired to the point that lifting my toothbrush seemed a chore! It was exceedingly difficult to conduct normal physical activities. And so, after 6-years of what appeared to be complete remission, I contacted my original oncologist for his thoughts.

He stated that given my treatments, history and good testing results, I would qualify as a perfectly reasonable candidate for TRT (testosterone replacement therapy), via single, bimonthly injections of 200 mg Testosterone Cypionate.

And so, I did so, for a period of approximately 4-5 months (8-10 total injections). By 3-4 months later, my total testosterone (in blood) levels were reading 425+. A very nice improvement, yet in terms of actual strength, it didn't seem to be very noticeable? So, in October 2025, knowing full-well the link between testosterone and prostate cancer, I decided to simply quit the injections. Just 4-months later (January 2026), my PSA shot-up to 3.0+, and now (8 more months later), my cancer is in recurrence, with a positive PSMA-PET scan and a PSA of 13.4.

Did the TRT injections positively cause the return? I'm told by multiple sources (all of whom know a great deal more about such things than me), that it's unlikely, but I will probably still wonder, most all of my life.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"When I was younger I believed,
That dreams came true.
Now, I wonder.

When I was younger I believed,
That I could win.
Now, I wonder.

I keep on searchin' for the old me,
I keep on thinkin' it’ll change.
I keep on hopin' for a new day,

Will I ever,
Feel the same?
Now, I wonder.

Oh, I wonder."

(Chris Isaak)

@service1010

Below are a few of the recent study sites that comment on Testosterone Replacement Therapy after initial cancer treatment. You might have to google the titles to see the sites since this web site does not seem to download the original web address.

Testosterone replacement therapy following definitive treatment for prostate cancer: a scoping review of safety and efficacy | International Journal of Impotence Research
Conclusion: TRT does not increase the advancement of prostate cancer and may actually decrease cancer growth. 11/26/25 summary of 12 studies.

@pesquallie can you share something that I can about this?

@tbgb50
The deal with ADT is the higher your Gleason score the longer you should be on it. For a Gleason 7 6 months is plenty. Gleason 8 18 months. Gleason 10 or 9 24 months.

The thing is, it’s suppresses the cancer from growing and gives a better chance of having the radiation kill it off.

Not everybody’s the same, however. Some people could pick shorter times, but reoccurrence is more likely since nothing is suppressing the growth and spread

If somebody has metastasis, but they almost definitely want to have longer ADT and an ARPI.

@jeffmarc
This is why I opted for ADT. The 5% number is not particularly scientific. I've seen it quoted by multiple doctors, articles and searches with no substantiation. Maybe I'm stubborn I do not see how it can apply to all Gleason 8 and 9 scores and patient ages.

Where I'm still not sure is how long to I will stay on ADT. Setting aside the percentage, do you get 90% of the potential benefit in 6 months? 1 year? 18 months? etc. For now, I've been told ADT affects PSA test so it will take a year to know if my treatments worked (still not sure what "worked" means).

@pesquallie
This is just not true at all. I was on Lupron for six years, It didn’t destroy any organs in my body. For the first 2 1/2 years, it did keep me undetectable.

I think people will find that progression free survival (PFS) is extended by using ADT. I know in my case it gave me at least two extra years of overall survival.

I don’t think that 5% number applies to everybody.

@toomany

Same issues with Lupron. It destroys every organ in your body and statistically only increases survival by 5%.

Greetings!

I'm pushing 75 now, and have 'localized' recurrence (per recent PSMA-PET scan), following "triple-play" treatment (ADT, brachytherapy and beam radiation), eight-years ago. I was only administered Lupron twice, immediately after diagnosis (and short-term immediate Casodex), and just before heading home after the completion of the other two treatments.

I was cancer-free until this past January, but my PSA has jumped from 4.5 to 13.4, over the last eight months, and I'm likely facing Orgovyx, and possibly Abiraterone as well. I'm not quite sure on either just yet? It is my understanding that the former blocks testosterone at the receptor cell, while the latter med literally stops its production, but I certainly will not do Lupron again, regardless! I may have been an outlier or oddity of some sort, but I had terrible side effects from it, including horrific nightmares and outright hallucinations at-times. So I understand your rationale completely.

Best of luck to you!