Search results for "anti-androgen withdrawal"

Wishing you continued strength and the very best on your journey. Thanks you so much!

Edited: by member 31 Jul 2026 at 03:52  | Reason: Not specified

Hi Chaps, 

Just reporting in. Suffering slightly from withdrawal effects inflicted by the World Cup. 
One week on from my Prostap Independence Day and, well, my hot sweats are going through the roof. No need to cart barrels of water up to my drought affected allotment as all I have to do is go up and shake my head to water my plants 😬. 
I consulted Dr Google who informed me that my brain is confused due to the shift in hormones caused by the lessening affect of the last Prostap jab. And that the confusion means that my body temperature thermostat is up the swanny.

He (or she) also gave some advice to alleviate these worsening symptoms as follows:” Lifestyle Adjustments: Avoid common triggers such as caffeine, spicy foods, alcohol, and very warm environments.”

So, what do you reckon?
Looks like I’ll be carrying on sweating as I reckon that I’ve earned my curry and beer this week 😃🍺.

Have a good one, 

SpongeBob.

Edited: by member 23 Jul 2026 at 23:08  | Reason: Not specified

Hello Crispin

I'm not a scientist, but I'm rejoicing in your good news. I hope that the treatment can be adjusted to improve your quality of life.

Hello everyone,

I wanted to share a brief update on my journey in the hope it might help others looking into advanced staging and early theranostics.

A couple of years ago, I had a highly suspicious PI-RADS 5 lesion on an MRI, but a targeted biopsy came back completely negative. My local doctors told me not to worry, but my PSA kept rising. Trusting the data trend, I pushed for a private 18F-PSMA PET scan. It completely changed my staging, revealing a dominant metastasis in my pelvic bone before the cancer had breached the prostate capsule.

After doing extensive research as a scientist, I chose to look outside standard protocols. I traveled to a specialist theranostics clinic in Germany to receive Lutetium-177 PSMA radioligand therapy early, while my disease was still hormone-sensitive. We also ran a genomic liquid biopsy and found I carry a somatic FANCA mutation, which likely made the cancer highly sensitive to the radiation.

After just two cycles of Lutetium alongside an anti-androgen, my PSA became completely undetectable (<0.01) and my latest follow-up PSMA-PET scans show a complete molecular response—the bone metastasis has completely disappeared. I'm currently dealing with the standard intense fatigue from the hormone blockade, and my oncologist and I are discussing safely de-escalating treatment soon to get my quality of life back.

I'm currently co-authoring a formal medical case report on this protocol with my treating professor in Germany. If anyone is navigating a false-negative biopsy, dealing with hormone-sensitive metastatic disease, or considering traveling for early radioligand therapy, I’d be very glad to share what I've learned about the process.

From NICE

The hormone therapy will still be suppressing the cancer cells it always has. The problem is that some newer mutation cells have cropped up too for which the HT doesn't work.

You can't stay on Bicalutamide if that stops working, because one way it stops working is that the cancer mutates to use it instead of the Testosterone. This is why there can be a PSA drop when you come off Bicalutamide (which is called Anti-Androgen Withdrawal Syndrome, AAWS).

I have recently heard from an oncologist that the injection site reaction to Degaralix can be due to getting some of the injection on your skin surface, but I doubt that accounts for all cases.

There is an alternative which was approved by NICE last year, Relugolix, which is a daily tablet GnRH Antagonist (Degarelix is also a GnRH Antagonist). If you are getting severe injection site issues to Degarelix, then you could ask if you can have Relugolix instead. [Disclosure - I am a patient consultant to Accord, who sell Relugolix.]

The hormone therapy is almost certainly still working in terms of preventing growth of some cancer cells. What happens when you become castrate resistant is that new cancer mutations which are resistant to the actions of the existing drug start growing. However, the existing drug is still holding back the original cancer cells. It's only if the hormone therapy and chemo have wiped out the original cancer cells (which can happen) that the hormone therapy is no longer beneficial, but usually you stay on it.

You have to come off anti-androgen drugs like Bicalutamide, Enzalutamide, and the other *utamides if they stop working, because one way they can stop working is that the cancer learns to use them instead of Testosterone.

Edited: by member 17 Feb 2025 at 13:12  | Reason: Not specified

I have seen a study of a few men who underwent lut177 treatment in similar circumstances. One had an excellent result some had moderate success and others a failure.  There is no guarantee that it will be offered as detailed below.

Thanks Chris 

"I reviewed Christopher in clinic today. His recent PSMA PET scan has identified new left internal iliac lymphadenopathy, as well as retroperitoneal lymph nodes, and a highly suspicious left supraclavicular fossa lymph node. There is too much disease here to consider radiotherapy or SABR. I have said I think now is the time to consider further treatment for his cancer. I know Christopher has been loath to consider treatment thus far because of hormonal side-effects.

Ordinarily, the recommendation in this circumstance would be for indefinite LHRH analogues and the addition of a novel anti-androgen. I think in his case, I would use Abiraterone and low dose Prednisolone. I think this is likely to control his cancer for four to five years. An alternative would be to continue observation if he is loath to consider hormone treatment, but we would have to set a threshold or some idea of when we may consider instituting hormone treatment. I think further observation may come with a modest detriment to overall how long he may live.

The third option would be to consider Lutetium-177. This is unorthodox, but I have had one patient where this has occurred. To even consider this, he would have to have a consultation with Dr xxx down in Windsor, and it may be that his insurer will not fund this, but it is certainly a possibility that can be explored."

And don't forget to tell your guests from up North that you've got an inside loo.😂

We had an outside loo when I was 5 or 6 . Absolutely freezing cold and dark. It wasn’t even directly out the back door. They were old farm cottage’s. 

I’ll add to the congrats for your PSA Ian but so sorry to hear about your MiL. That is tough… 

Looking forward to Christmas and I’m just gonna try and relax and not think about things too deeply… 

Hoping matter todays F2F I can possibly have a chat with some travel insurance companies as I’m getting withdrawal symptoms 🤣. 

Cheers

Guys,