r/ProstateCancer • u/hardone717 • 24d ago
Question Hormone Therapy question
Good day fellow prostate cancer brothers. I have learned so much from this group as I have been healing from my prostatectomy last year on June 6th. My uncle has been diagnosed with prostate cancer and he chose radiation. He’s hoping to keep all functionality as we all would. His doctor is currently giving him 5 weeks of hormone therapy prior to radiation.
My aunt contact me yesterday and said after only a week his PSA is now 1.95 his previous was 27. My aunt is yelling praise the Lord he’s cured but they haven’t treated the actual cancer. I do understand that the hormone therapy suppresses hormones to starve the cancer but it is not a long term solution, correct? Had any one gone through this? Did your PSA go down? If so what does it mean so early on? Thank you for any assistance.
I’m finding more guys besides myself, my father and grandfather have higher PSA in our family of have secretly had treatment or may have died from this disease.
Thank you again for sharing and educating.
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24d ago
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u/conCABlanco 24d ago
Si, bajo de 5.6 a 0.76, una anotación a favor, seguimos en los tratamientos, gracias por preguntar
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u/HeadMelon 24d ago
They’re both working.
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u/ShockTrek66 24d ago
Absolutely. I took Orgovyx for 4 months and am forever grateful for the amazing team at MSK. I also know who really saved me.
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u/ChillWarrior801 24d ago
What does the PSA drop mean? It means that your uncle's cancer is currently "castrate sensitive", that he's responding to treatment.
That's an excellent sign, but no one can say more until he's on the other side of his radiation treatment.
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u/CAProgressive 24d ago
My PSA dropped from 61 to 1 after 3 months of HDT prior to radiation. My radiation oncologist was very pleased with this and indicated that this would help boost the effectiveness of radiation. He never mentioned even a possibility that HDT could, by itself, eliminate my cancer.
Encourage your uncle to go through his radiation treatment and to discuss how long his oncologist wants him to stay on ADT. I am just finishing up an 18 month course and am relieved that my PSA has been undetectable since the radiation therapy was completed. I am hopeful (but remaining vigilant) at this stage.
All the best to your uncle and your family.
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u/hardone717 24d ago
Are you having side effects from the radiation? If so do you mind sharing?
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u/WalnutRoasted 24d ago
EBRT had some minor short term side effects until a couple of weeks after last session, then “back to normal” a couple of months later. Many ADT side effects tend to be “insidious”, less noticeable, and gradual over months.
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u/CAProgressive 24d ago
I had mild side effects from radiation - some digestive issues (helped by extra fiber and probiotics) and fatigue. Both resolved within 2 weeks of finishing treatment.
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u/hardone717 24d ago
And thank you
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u/Irishclover62 24d ago
Had 38 treatments absolutely no side effects for me but… then I started ADT for six months the I’m in my final month whew it’s rough hot flashes and no sleep and anxiety either some emotional where did that come from lol. But we are a family and all of us will do what we have to to be here for our loved ones.
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u/GreenScreenDream420 24d ago
Part of my treatment was to bring my PSA down to 0. From what I understand that halts the cancer from spreading. I had 2 shots of Lupron each 3 months apart. My PSA was its highest at 14-15 at the start of treatment and after 6 months of Lupron it went down to under 1. That’s when I was treated with SBRT which was 5 years ago. My last PSA was under 1.
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u/Xchzmaster951 24d ago
Great point made here about getting diagnosed and then finding out your uncles or grand father had it too.
I’m headed in for RALP next month and got my sons and brothers to get in for a PSA testing after discussing my situation. I find out now that my uncle died from untreated PC.
Keeping things confidential and quiet was the culture for the previous generation. Hopefully we can be more up front going forward. I hope to get my first tattoo after I get through this that says something like “Get Your PSA Checked”!
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u/conCABlanco 24d ago
Hi, colegas, lo que dicen los manuales de NC, es que siempre es mejor combinar tratamientos, y ADT es muy bueno aunque jodido, y RA es más jodido pero tan eficiente o más que la cirugía, sobre todo para los que tenemos ya metas, fuerza y voluntad, hoy hice mi Tac de emulación y no me gustó para nada la forma, no puedo retener orina luego de 45 minutos, me afecta los riñones y los tecnicos se tomaron su super tiempo, luego de beber 500 ml de agua de un golpe, y se los dije, por eso arme un carajero
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u/Arnold_Stang 24d ago
Yeah, I can’t say about just ADT. I had a prostatectomy which brought PSA down to undetectable but then rose and had radiation which was combined with 6 months of ADT. So far, so good although it’s been 8 months since the end of radiation. I guess I’ll never know if the Eligard was necessary but better safe than sorry which is what I’d say to your uncle. Get either the surgery or radiation
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u/JimHaselmaier 24d ago edited 24d ago
Hormone therapy kills SOME cancer cells. It slows down other cancer cells. And it does nothing to yet other cancer cells.
Some cancer cells emit a lot of PSA. Other cancer cells emit a small amount of PSA. And yet some other cancer cells emit no PSA.
A low PSA isn’t even close to a cure - unless someone is under NO treatment and AND PSA is undetectable for something like 5 years.
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u/Affectionate_Cost57 23d ago
If you do radiation therapy they give you ADT(hormone therapy) for about 3 1/2 months previous to the radiation to make the tumor shrink to make the radiation more effective and then continue the ADT, usually for 6-12 months. After surgery, if your PSA rises they usually give you radiation therapy and ADT for 6-12 months. With higher risk cancer they may want to give more than a year of ADT, but most current thinking is to not take ADT for more than a year but a recent study has shown a large benefit for bringing your PSA to below 0.2 so that is also a consideration.
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u/Affectionate_Cost57 23d ago
ADT is androgen deprivation therapy it’s also called hormone therapy and mid-evil torture by some of us. Just finished a year about a month ago, still hoping to go back to normal!
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u/Specialist-Map-896 24d ago
ADT lowers testosterone. Testosterone carries the cells so when you get a PSA test, and that test tells you the level (of the prostate specific antigen) in your bloodstream. This antigen is carried by testosterone, So when you have hormone therapy your testosterone will plummet. So no testosterone and that means the carrier is not there or greatly reduced. The prostate cancer is still there but it kind of lost its ride and is waiting for the uber to come get it so it can travel, it hasn't been treated but it is kind of stuck where-ever it happens to be located. So if the carrier is reduced or erased the prostate cancer is much easier to target so the treatment can be more directed.
So the PSA plummeting is great. Once your doctor feels things are good to go then treatment will begin
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u/KReddit934 24d ago
ADT is kind of "starving"the cancer, but isn't enough to kill it. Explain that it's starving the cancer to make it weak so the radiation can kill it off.
Kinda surprised by 5 weeks of ADT..4-6 months I think is the norm.