Hello Hawk3333 and welcome
There are a number of members on here with advanced PC and I am sure that others will also be along to advise you, although like Coll I am under the impression that advanced PC can only be controlled rather than cured, but we have members who have lived with metastatic cancer for many years and in all this time new treatments are becoming more and more available.
Have you asked about trials or were any suggested to you. ? What was your Gleason score. All such info is helpful
Whereabouts are you based?
Edited by member 13 Feb 2016 at 16:17
| Reason: Not specified
We can't control the winds - but we can adjust our sails |
User
We had a slightly different scenario but we wanted a second opinion so went to London.
I will message you with the name and clinic as we are not supposed to mention names on here.
They confirmed that they would do exactly the same as the NHS treatment that we were receiving.
I would do some research and see who who think would be best for your situation.
All the best
Alison
User
Hawk,
chemo doesn't cure prostate cancer in the way that it sometimes cures other cancers such as leukemia or lymphoma. Until recently, chemo was only used in the last stages of prostate cancer to make a dying man more comfortable. More recently, science is suggesting that chemo can damage the cancer cells so that the enzalutimide (or other hormone treatment) works more effectively. If you are already on enzalutimide then you are fortunate to be getting a treatment that some people have to fight for - I am sorry to say there is no cure for metastatic PCa. Perhaps better to make the most of your health and enjoying your days with family & friends rather than waste your time chasing supposed 'cures'. Having said that, it might be worth asking your consultant oncologist about chemo in tandem with the Enzo .... not as a cure but in the hope that it will make the Enzo last a bit longer.
"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard
|
User
Originally Posted by: Online Community MemberUntil recently, chemo was only used in the last stages of prostate cancer to make a dying man more comfortable. ........
it might be worth asking your consultant oncologist about chemo in tandem with the Enzo .... not as a cure but in the hope that it will make the Enzo last a bit longer.
As someone who has only had HT since being diagnosed with advanced PCa I think this is a tad pessimistic. I know that Enzo will fail at some time. I don't feel that when it does that it's just a short trip to the knackers yard. http://community.prostatecanceruk.org/editors/tiny_mce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-smile.gif When I first joined this forum my mind was against having chemo. Reading peoples experiences in here has changed my mind. Whilst there are obvious quality of life (QOL) issues I've also noted that there can be many 'good days' whilst on chemo. Chemo can hold up the PCa for a while. There's even two sorts of chemo that can be used. After that Radium 223 is a possibility. I will also be asking my Onco about Abi, Stilboestrol, Olaparib, VT464 and Immunotherapy.
So all in all I think there is a reasonable prospect of some QOL after Enzo.
User
Sorry Col, of course I didn't mean that after enzo there is nothing else. But Hawk is currently on enzo so a conversation with his oncologist about whether early chemo is available to him and whether it would make enzo last longer seems sensible to me. Not suggesting thast there aren't other treatments that can hold it back after enzo, simply that none of them can cure it.
"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard
|
User
I can only reiterate above comment..advanced PC is not curable. But there are a number of treatments to maintain quality of life. My OH has Zoladex ongoing. Has had Docetaxel, then Enzalutamide now just started Radium 223.
Glen