lupron treatment - right decision

First time user. My husband was diagnosed with PC May 2004. The initial PSA was 76. After much research and consultation he underwent a  RP October 2004. His original biopsy had a Gleason of 7 (3+4). Bone scan was normal. The surgery revealed Gleason 3+4, 55% infiltration left lobe and 40% right lobe.Invsation into left seminal veiscal. no lympovasuclar invasion. He recovered extremely well post surgery. Immeidate radiation therapy was recommened however he elected to take wait and see approach. PSA has increased over the last four years. 3mos post surgery .8, six mos - 1.3 . Steady increase Feb 14, 2008 at 19, May 8, 2008 at 20, Nov 10, 2008 16 and last test March 3, 2009 at 25. His oncologist at Vancouver General Hospital (great facility) has recomended Lupron injectiions 3 over next nine months with one month of Casodex. My husband was very reluctant to start the hormone treatment since he feels 100%, recent bone scan was negative. only issue is the rising PSA. The game plan per his oncolgoist is to treat for 9 months and then take him off the Lupron for 24-26 mos and see how the PSA goes.  He received his first injection last week and so far feels ok. He realizes the side effects will kick in over time. He seems to be able to tolerate the physical part of any upcoming side effects. His biggest concern is psychological changes and that this will change "who he is". I guess my question is whehter or not this course of treatment is the best or there other suggestions and does the treatment affect who you are. My husband is of the mindset. quality of life over quanity of life. He is going to be 60 years old shortly and I am striving for quantity of Life but I am not walking in his shoes. Perhaps someone else can let me know what those shoes feel like.

thanks

Ilona 

 I had only one lupron injection, but due to unusual side effects I never repeated it. The bad side effects start about 8 weeks into it. Maybe he won't have that many bad side effects, everyone is different. It is tough physically and mentally for any man to be chemically castrated. You should research what are the side effects so you will be prepared for them. A lot of the side effects are similar to menopause that women expierence. I would suggest diet and supplements to aid in his treatment.. I have advanced prostate cancer and my only treatment is alternative. It has been effective the last 3 years. Today I am cancer free, according to my traditional urologist.

Dan 

The high initial PSA and his rising PSA after surgery indicates that the cancer had already spread before his surgery. At his time Hormone therapy is the most appropriate option.

Lupron should be taken with Casodex and Proscar as it increases it's effectiveness.

There are side affects and they can be controlled. PCRI.org has several papers on the side affects of hormone treatment and measures to control them. Weight training and diet play an important part. He will not loose who he is. Hormone Therapy will generally surpress the cancer for 10-15 years and there is a lot of new research being conducted on advanced Prostate Cancer that looks promissing.

Read, Beating Prostate Cancer: Hormone Therapy and Diet by Dr Charles Snuffy Meyrs.

Also go on Compasionateoncology.com to read about adding Casodex and proscar to the Lupron.

JohnT

On 3/9/2009 ilona59 wrote:

First time user. My husband was diagnosed with PC May 2004. The initial PSA was 76. After much research and consultation he underwent a  RP October 2004. His original biopsy had a Gleason of 7 (3+4). Bone scan was normal. The surgery revealed Gleason 3+4, 55% infiltration left lobe and 40% right lobe.Invsation into left seminal veiscal. no lympovasuclar invasion. He recovered extremely well post surgery. Immeidate radiation therapy was recommened however he elected to take wait and see approach. PSA has increased over the last four years. 3mos post surgery .8, six mos - 1.3 . Steady increase Feb 14, 2008 at 19, May 8, 2008 at 20, Nov 10, 2008 16 and last test March 3, 2009 at 25. His oncologist at Vancouver General Hospital (great facility) has recomended Lupron injectiions 3 over next nine months with one month of Casodex. My husband was very reluctant to start the hormone treatment since he feels 100%, recent bone scan was negative. only issue is the rising PSA. The game plan per his oncolgoist is to treat for 9 months and then take him off the Lupron for 24-26 mos and see how the PSA goes.  He received his first injection last week and so far feels ok. He realizes the side effects will kick in over time. He seems to be able to tolerate the physical part of any upcoming side effects. His biggest concern is psychological changes and that this will change "who he is". I guess my question is whehter or not this course of treatment is the best or there other suggestions and does the treatment affect who you are. My husband is of the mindset. quality of life over quanity of life. He is going to be 60 years old shortly and I am striving for quantity of Life but I am not walking in his shoes. Perhaps someone else can let me know what those shoes feel like.

thanks

Ilona 

 

Hi LLona sorry this is so long I have advance prostrate cancer sorry for what hes going thought I’ve read about sex hormone

 Replacement therapy  and thought it wisent for me. I’m now on red clover and the Dr Budwig diet  my PSA coming down. Way back in 2007 I talked to a naturopath who told me about large dose of vitamin C  can help with cancer, so I was taking it for a year or so, then the vitamin C stopped working. What happened is I could not get the large dose of vitamin C  I was on, any were, for a month. Then I was able to get it again but when I went back on it. the damage had been done. My PSA went up from 10.2  to 13.8 and  I now had urine retention so I couldn't pee very well, Then I read about, and was told about,  Red clover that has isoflavones in it. I read about it  in that book called foods that fight cancer. My wife an RN she  come on board and told me about a product on the market  for woman with menopause, called promensel it active ingredients are plant extracts from a plant called  trifollium pratensl (Red clover ) when I started taking this it brought my PSA down to 11  in five weeks

This part is from cancer tutor web site.  

 .http://www.cancertutor.com/Other/Prostate_Cancer.html 

Ill stat with this     " It is generally believed that by the time symptoms of prostate cancer are observed by the patient, the cancer has spread beyond the prostate gland. In other words, unless the patient was proactive in getting his PSA levels checked, meaning the patient had his PSA level checked before symptoms appeared, it is likely the cancer had already spread beyond the prostate gland.

The big Question is  then. Is it necessary to have the prostate gland removed? That is where the paradox of prostate cancer begins.

If the cancer has already spread outside of the prostate area, surgery is of little or no value. Once the cancer has spread it may become fast growing and may have spread to vital organs. By this time, the slow growing cancer in the prostate area is no longer of any concern, it is the cancer in other areas that are of concern. Thus, if the cancer has already spread, surgery is of virtually no use.

For cancer that has metastasized, orthodox treatments for cancer do far more damage than good (see my article on alternative cancer treatments and orthodox cancer treatments at: "Introcution to Alternative Cancer Treatments)." Alternative treatments are a far superior treatment for cancer that has metastasized.

But what about when the cancer is still totally contained within the prostate gland? If the cancer is totally contained within the prostate gland, because the prostate cancer cells are so slow to multiply, it would be easy for alternative cancer treatments to kill the cancer cells!! Thus, if the cancer has not spread, alternative treatments would be the best solution.

 Like me  CC member  ski dan uses alternative treatments  to treat his cancer

If you like you can see ski- dan  testimonial at,    www.alternativeprostatecancer.com and how he started his road to recovery in  four years going form a psa of 23.5ng/ml and a Gleason score of  7 to a PSA of just 0.059 ng/ml . Using both Alternative and historic treatments ski- Dan once said if your  fighting advance prostrate cancer the best thing is don’t give up. and don’t just stick to the one diet,  If its not working change it to one that dos work Like the Dr Budwig diet http://www.cancertutor.com/Cancer/Budwig.html    Sky-dan way and my way is to  keep trying do research  to find the treatment that worked well for you. My way and skidan  way is a mixer of several protocols like the Budwig diet to repair the damage the cancer has done, and historic treatment. is a belief in one self. One of my ways now is the use of isoflavones from red clover to shrink my  prostrate and  to get my PSA down it dos take a lot of self discipline to do this but this is the best way I know You decide the best treatment for you  Its you body. And when you do you will win in the end. Take care and God blest you cheers

Ray

I got a  lot of this from Wikipedia

Red clover It is widely grown as a fodder crop, valued for its nitrogen fixation  which increases soil fertility. For these reasons it is used as a green manure crop. Several Cultivar Group have been selected for agricultural use, mostly derived from var. sativum. It has become naturalized in many temperate areas, including the Americas  and Australasia as an escape from cultivation.

this is the part Im interested in 

 The isoflavones and phytoestrogens from Red Clover have been used to treat the symptoms of menopause and certain types of breast cancer and  prostrate cancer. Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding should avoid ingesting Red Clover.  It has also been reported that red clover can be used for therapeutic purposes for coughs bronchitis,  eczema , sores , scrofula  and can be garled  for mouth ulcers and sore thought  It has been shown to contain compounds like caffeic acid that starve tumors and reduce inflammation

.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_clover

All the best Ray

Hi last post I miss telling you about how the isoflovones called Genistenin found  in soy beans and red clover work The isoflovones Genistenin  look like and mimics the sex horemones Testoserone and Estrogen so the genistein prevents the sex hormone from binding to its receptor site by taking it place the prostrate cancer cell has meny more recepors then do normal cells the isoflovones Genistenin only block a few of the normal cells receptor but it blocks more of the prostrate cancer cells receptor so there is a decress in activation of tissue growth because prostrate cancer tumor is sexhormone dependant it starves of testoserone it shinks. more sloyly then with hormone treatment but the body not deprive testoserone so there is no side effects  

 hormone therorpy is totaly diferent it blockes most of the producion of testoserone so the bodys gos though testoserone starvation  There are four basic methods androgen, deprivation: castration, estrogen, anti – androgens, and combine androgen blockade.

Cheers Ray

" recent bone scan was negative. only issue is the rising PSA. The game plan per his oncolgoist is to treat for 9 months and then take him off the Lupron for 24-26 mos and see how the PSA goes.  He received his first injection last week and so far feels ok. He realizes the side effects will kick in over time. He seems to be able to tolerate the physical part of any upcoming side effects. His biggest concern is psychological changes and that this will change "who he is". I guess my question is whehter or not this course of treatment is the best or there other suggestions and does the treatment affect who you are. My husband is of the mindset. quality of life over quanity of life."

Firstly I agree that you should read the book by Dr Myers: "Beating Prostate Cancer:Hormonal Therapy & Diet".

Yes, quality of life is most important: lifestyle changes will help reduce POTENTIAL side effects of hormone therapy.

I have two close friends who have used hormone therapy for several years: the treatment does not alter who you are. It MIGHT present practical problems.

The side effects might not necessarily be acute. Everyone is different, and if one kind of medication is not effective or produces problems, an alternative kind might prove more effective.

There are many grey areas with Prostate Cancer and treatments.  The "intermettent" approach that your are considering  is often used, especially when someone experiences  difficulty with the therapy.

Bone scans might be negative, however scans do not necessarily show up small areas of Metastases in the early stages.

One of my friends on hormone therapy is in his early 60s, he's doing well, travels extensively, and his PSA has reduced from 28 to under 1.

Thank you for sharing your experience.  I'm very interested
in the alternative treatments you employed to cure yourself.  I'm
currently living and teaching in China.  TCM is widely available.

A month ago, I was diagnose with prostate cancer (Gleason: 9); anterior of the prostate.  Bone scan & MRI:  Both negative.

However, with the prostate "totally engulfed in CA"  I've elected cyroablation in Dallas, TX.  Next week I'll travel from China to meet with cyro doctor and get an operation date.

Approx a month ago, I was given a Lupron
injection (good for 3-4 months) and was told by my urologists that
"most men don't feel any side effects ... a few men may get hot
flashes."  Do, he said it as if, "if you ain't macho, then you may have some minor problems ... but don't worry about Lupron." 

The second week, I had terrible diarrhea, body aches; bone pains; etc, for almost a week.  The week before the Lupron injection, I had a total workup from my "general physician" and the results were excellent. 

In fact, I've enjoyed competition among
the university students and often race them up flights of stairs: 5, 6,
or 7.    But now, its impossible to walk up the stairs at a slow pace
without being "extremely exhausted; extreme thirst; extreme fatigue, etc. 

A gentleman informed me that when he had received the Lupron injection, a month later triggered a heart attack, and diabetes.  Wow ... that's scary!

This Lupron frighten me, especially since I've always taken my health issues seriously; good diet & lifestyle, to be all important. 

On 3/9/2009 skidan wrote:

 I had only one lupron injection, but due to unusual side effects I never repeated it. The bad side effects start about 8 weeks into it. Maybe he won't have that many bad side effects, everyone is different. It is tough physically and mentally for any man to be chemically castrated. You should research what are the side effects so you will be prepared for them. A lot of the side effects are similar to menopause that women expierence. I would suggest diet and supplements to aid in his treatment.. I have advanced prostate cancer and my only treatment is alternative. It has been effective the last 3 years. Today I am cancer free, according to my traditional urologist.

Dan 

Lenny,

 For more information please visit my web site at www.alternativeprostatecancer.com

Hope this helps

Dan