PSA - 17.1, are Lupron injections necessary?

I Hi just been diagnosed with stage four prostate cancer in my lymph notes. I started on my medication it’s Bicalutamide 50mg. I’ll be starting on my injections on the 5th of June. Just wondering does anybody know what sort of side-effects I may occur or what other questions I should be asking my doctor. The doctor told me that he doesn’t know actually whereabouts it has travelled to. I will have an MRI scan in a couple of weeks to determine that. Any thoughts or feedback would be much appreciated let’s keep on fighting the good fight. Thank you for reading my post.

I have heard that a full body pet scan can reveal more than an MRI, but then I am not an expert. Perhaps mentioning that to your doctor would be worthwhile.

More clinical information may help the forum respond.
How was it determined the PCa was in your lymph nodes, did you have surgery and they did a PLND, if so what did the pathology report say...or did you have imaging, if so, with what and what were the results? Ther e is other clinical history important in answering your question, how old, any health issues, how long did your medical team say you would be on the ADT...

In the meantime,do a literature search on doublet or triplet therapy. Here's one link, you can find others. As a side note, based on what you describe in your post, sinds like monotherapy, if so, I would consider revisiting that treatment plan with your medical team, seems like "old school."

Kevin

There is a new psma pet scan available that is supposed to show things much better

Hi Kevin, I am a 63-year-old man. I had my prostate removed in 2014 went for a routine PSA test this year and it came back pretty high Had an abdominal MRI scan which revealed it had gone into my lymph nodes awaiting CT scan within the next couple of weeks. Thanks for your concern and reading my post. we’ll have to see what the CT scan results are when itcomes back.

define "pretty high..."

I had my surgery in March 2014 also, then BCR in September 2015.

If it has been almost nine years, that's an important piece of the clinical data.

If you still have your surgery pathology report, that would be helpful.

Also, any PSA tests over time, particularly ones this year.

I say this because there is clinical data such as gleason Score from the pathology report, PSA doubling and velocity times, what type of imaging may be best to locate any recurrence...

One thing to consider when you have the results from your MRI and CT is it may only show locations of recurrence within its capability, there is likely micro-metastatic disease too small to be seen. Thus, in your treatment decision, radiation alone may not be a good choice, you should discuss combining it with ADT for a defined period. There are clinical trials which say six months, others say 24-36 months.

Kevin

Greetings! Has it been determined if your grandfather actually has prostate cancer? Has he had any PET scans or biopsies? I was diagnosed in January at age 54 with mestastic prostate cancer that had spread to my lymph nodes and my hip. My PSA at the time was 359. I take abiraterone and prednisone every day. I’ve had three Lupron shots and my PSA is now .24
I have had no noticeable side effects from any of my treatments, except for decreased libido and testicle shrinkage. Oh joy! (I happily accept these side effects that are allowing me to live a very awesome life.). My father currently has a PSA of about 11 but has not been confirmed as having prostate cancer. His doctor is going to implant a gold seed in his prostate and administer radiation therapy. That might be an option for your grandfather.

Had friend with seeds pass away Cancer went to brain Other options

Suggest he has a biopsy.
My PSA was only 2.81 then flared to 5.61 after a routine blood test.
I immediately had a biopsy that showed a Gleason score of 8 and advanced prostate cancer. I opted to receive 28 Proton radiation treatments. I also received a 3 month Lupron injection Prior to my radiation treatment and a 3 month injection post radiation treatment.
Although, perhaps necessary (?), My after effects of Lupron are horrible. I wish now I would’ve had my prostate surgically removed.
(I am the same age as your grandfather.)

Welcome, @kneedyrdough. Are you currently on treatment? How are you doing?