Re: ? 4 those on triple blockade HT

[Guest guest]

TD Roebling wrote:

> Realistically -- best possible case --( aside from fatigue,

> lessening of concentration, and some breast growth), how long

> can one expect to be asymptomatic on triple-blockade HT, or it

> no longer works?

I seem to recall reading that the median response before disease

progression is around 18 months. However, I can't recall where

I read that and can't find it now.

" Disease progression " generally means a rise in PSA. It can

still be years after that before the first symptoms appear.

Strum says, in his book _A Primer on Prostate Cancer_, that much

can be told about how long a response a man will get from ADT by

how low his PSA goes while on ADT. The longest responses are in

the men who achieve the lowest PSA levels on ADT. He claims

that many of his patients who got to levels below 0.05 lived for

over 15 years with no disease progression. Such men have

particularly hormone sensitive cancers.

Of course 50% of men are below the median too.

Here is a link to the National Cancer Institute's summary of

what is currently known about the treatment of recurrent

prostate cancer.

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/treatment/prostate/HealthProfessional/pag\

e10

They cite a median overall survival of 6 years in men taking ADT

following PSA failure after primary treatment (surgery or

radiation). If my 18 month figure was correct, that would mean

that after the disease begins to progress again, there are still

a median of 4.5 years before death.

Like the children of Lake Woebegone, here's wishing that all of

us are above the median.

Best of luck.

Alan

[Guest guest]

TD, there is simply no answer to your

question because you have given no indication why you are on triple-blockade

HT: what your PSA, Gleason and staging numbers are. Those aspects of your

diagnosis can give a clue as to what kind of range of expectations might be

reasonable, but there can never be any certainty – the individual

variance is very substantial.

As you may or may not be aware, I run a

website – YANA – You Are Not Alone

Now at http://www.yananow.net –

part of which is given over to the current stories of over 500 men who have

been diagnosed with prostate cancer and who have made their choices from the

wide variety of treatments on offer. The men who chose ADT (Androgen

Deprivation Therapy) are listed here http://www.yananow.net/Experiences.html#adt

If you go down the list or read the stories the men have written, you

will see that the length of time for the effectiveness of the treatment is very

varied indeed. Perhaps the most remarkable is that of Trueman Seamans who was

diagnosed with a PSA of over 4,000 (that’s four thousand) in 1999 and who

was well enough to send in an update in March this year – a good deal

longer than 18 months!!

Of course there are also men who moved to

ADT after their primary treatment failed – you can pick them up by going

down the “Further Treatment” column.

I have a quote, somewhere in my files, but

which I can’t lay my hands on right now from a gathering of leading PCa specialists

some five or six years ago when the oncologist presenting to the group on ADT

claimed (supported by some statistical studies) that management of the disease

by ADT had reached a stage where men on ADT could expect to live out their

normal life expectancy.

It sounds as if you are a bit ‘down’

and perhaps more concerned than you might be with more information. If that’s

the case, please tells us more: ask more.

All the best

Terry Herbert

I have no medical

qualifications but I was diagnosed in ‘96: and have learned a bit since

then.

My sites are at www.yananow.net and www.prostatecancerwatchfulwaiting.co.za

Dr

“Snuffy” Myers : " As a physician, I am painfully aware that most of

the decisions we make with regard to prostate cancer are made with inadequate

data "

From:

ProstateCancerSupport [mailto:ProstateCancerSupport ]

On Behalf Of TD Roebling

Sent: Sunday, 23 November 2008

5:17 AM

To:

ProstateCancerSupport

Subject: ?

4 those on triple blockade HT

Realistically -- best possible case --( aside from

fatigue, lessening of concentration, and some breast growth), how long can one

expect to be asymptomatic on triple-blockade HT, or it no longer works?

[Guest guest]

TD, there is simply no answer to your

question because you have given no indication why you are on triple-blockade

HT: what your PSA, Gleason and staging numbers are. Those aspects of your

diagnosis can give a clue as to what kind of range of expectations might be

reasonable, but there can never be any certainty – the individual

variance is very substantial.

As you may or may not be aware, I run a

website – YANA – You Are Not Alone

Now at http://www.yananow.net –

part of which is given over to the current stories of over 500 men who have

been diagnosed with prostate cancer and who have made their choices from the

wide variety of treatments on offer. The men who chose ADT (Androgen

Deprivation Therapy) are listed here http://www.yananow.net/Experiences.html#adt

If you go down the list or read the stories the men have written, you

will see that the length of time for the effectiveness of the treatment is very

varied indeed. Perhaps the most remarkable is that of Trueman Seamans who was

diagnosed with a PSA of over 4,000 (that’s four thousand) in 1999 and who

was well enough to send in an update in March this year – a good deal

longer than 18 months!!

Of course there are also men who moved to

ADT after their primary treatment failed – you can pick them up by going

down the “Further Treatment” column.

I have a quote, somewhere in my files, but

which I can’t lay my hands on right now from a gathering of leading PCa specialists

some five or six years ago when the oncologist presenting to the group on ADT

claimed (supported by some statistical studies) that management of the disease

by ADT had reached a stage where men on ADT could expect to live out their

normal life expectancy.

It sounds as if you are a bit ‘down’

and perhaps more concerned than you might be with more information. If that’s

the case, please tells us more: ask more.

All the best

Terry Herbert

I have no medical

qualifications but I was diagnosed in ‘96: and have learned a bit since

then.

My sites are at www.yananow.net and www.prostatecancerwatchfulwaiting.co.za

Dr

“Snuffy” Myers : " As a physician, I am painfully aware that most of

the decisions we make with regard to prostate cancer are made with inadequate

data "

From:

ProstateCancerSupport [mailto:ProstateCancerSupport ]

On Behalf Of TD Roebling

Sent: Sunday, 23 November 2008

5:17 AM

To:

ProstateCancerSupport

Subject: ?

4 those on triple blockade HT

Realistically -- best possible case --( aside from

fatigue, lessening of concentration, and some breast growth), how long can one

expect to be asymptomatic on triple-blockade HT, or it no longer works?