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Lupron Treatment Duration: How long were you on it?
I have been diagnosed with Grade 3 prostate cancer with a 4 + 3 Gleason score of 7. This after having 2 PSA scores last year between 4 and 7. The cancer has not spread to the bones. I have received two Lupron injections 3 months apart and will complete 28 radiation treatments in the next couple of days. No surgery. I have tolerated the Lupron shots well with few but manageable side effects. I have an appointment to receive a third Lupron shot next month. My first PSA test after completing radiation won't be scheduled for 3 months. From researching Lupron, it appears that this is used for advanced stages of prostate cancer. From what I was led to believe, I was not advanced. My question: How long and how many Lupron shots might I need to go through? I will have this discussion with my urologist hopefully before proceeding with the next shot. Thanks for any information provided by the group.
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Addendum. I have become much more healthy losing 45 lb and eating more vegetables and fruits and exercising more -- walking and more recent rowing machine. I think supplements like curcumen and others help ps I am pre diabetic metformin might also have helped also. Note that I had a MACE with 99 PCT blockage in my widomaker artery -- so stent 3 years bago
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1 Reaction14 years so far. I have my prostate removed da Vinci in Oct 2009 my 65 birthday after Gleason 7 but my PSA never went down started lupron like shots since on Dec 2009. I did try to stop once but PSA went back up after 9 months
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2 ReactionsI have had 3 PSMA PET scans the last one on Aug 8, 2023. Nothing shows in my body anywhere except the lungs. In the lungs, the superior medial pulmonary nodule currently has an SUV of 5.2 as compared to 3.3. This nodule is seen in image 225. The anterior lateral right pulmonary nodule is seen in image 211 with an SUV of 2.0 as compared to 1.6. Another nodule is seen posteriorly within the superior portion of the right lower lobe on image 203 with a current SUV of 3.8 as compared to 4.3. Nodule within the lingula currently has an SUV of 2.1 as compared to 2.0. Nodules continue to be subcentimeter in size. A few areas of activity are noted within the left lung which appear to be new with mild increased accumulation of the radiopharmaceutical with no enlarged pulmonary nodules. One area, in particular, is seen anteriorly within the left lung in image 206 with an SUV of 1.6. No avid adenopathy within the chest. Other than the pulmonary nodules, no avid lesions were seen within the thoracic structures.
Since they are very small in size do I do the Lupron treatment my doctor wants now or wait? My PSA is 20.1 Gone up 1 point in 1 year.
Russ has to be also
Yes, I my case, my doctors generally dismissed any notion that Lupron was the cause of anything that might ail me! But it has kept me alive; I’m just a 145 pound weakling!
I was on lupron and Erleada for 13 months. It worked wonders and I had manageable side effects. Off all meds for last 7 months, doing really good, undetectable PSA and testosterone gradually rising. Thankful for the treatment.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/01/health/prostate-cancer-hormone-blockers.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
Hormone Blockers Can Prolong Life if Prostate Cancer Recurs
I am a healthy 73 yrs old and just finished 2 years of Lupron….no regrets on taking Lupron…it is extending my life…everyone must make there own calculus
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/01/health/prostate-cancer-hormone-blockers.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
Hormone Blockers Can Prolong Life if Prostate Cancer Recurs
I read this article often to remind myself that Lupron is helping to extend my life…I am just finishing 2 years of Lupron and am a healthy 73 year old….everyone is different in terms of other health issues…BUT I HAVE NO REGRETS….
My Gleason was 9, aggressive PC cancer. My surgeon at UCLA recommended 6 months of Lupron and Erleada before surgery as that softens up the cancer and gives a better chance of removal, then surgery, then 6 more months of those meds. It was aggressive advanced PC, CR, had spread to seminal vehicles. The cancer was and is still bad, but the surgery and 13 months of meds were noticeable but manageable. It was a good decision for me. I am now 1 year post surgery and 6 months after all of the meds have been terminated and doing good and better each day. When the cancer returns I will probably be back on the same meds and maybe more. I don’t dread it as the meds have kept me alive and they were manageable. For aggressive, CR, advanced cancer for someone who has a life expectancy of 10 or more years, I believe that ADT is appropriate, expected and appreciated, (provided that the ADT does not severely effect the quality of life).
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1 ReactionMy husband, 71, was also recently diagnosed, PSA 8, Gleason 4+4, no spread. He decided on surgery because several rad oncologists said he would need 18 -24 months of Lupron. For him that was a dealbreaker. I think with your husband's Gleason score he could have a shorter course of the hormones.