numbers for Steve K, again

Hi Steve, new numbers for you. I sent this several days ago and not only
did the email go off into la-la land, I lost internet after that so did
not know what happened. Something weird going on.

The new numbers are lower than expected, something weird there too. The
current psa as of 8/6/07 is 1.4 giving a doubling time of 6 months. The
previous reading on 5/1/07 was 1.1. It won't be much longer and I'll be
going back on Lupron, with the addition of Casodex, but the oncologist
does not feel it will do any good. He says it's worth the try though.

I tried to get on the current Provenge trial, but my psa is still a
little low to qualify and the enrollment will likely be closed soon.


It's good to see that your own readings are so stable and so low.
Keep it up!!!

On August 26, Bob C. wrote, in pertinent part:

> I tried to get on the current Provenge trial, but my psa is still a
> little low to qualify and the enrollment will likely be closed soon.

Provenge is far from the only clinical trial.

I recommend checking on GVAX. For four trials that are recruiting, see
http://clinicaltrials-nccs.nlm.nih.gov/ct/search

The manufacturer's site is
http://www.cellgenesys.com/clinical-...e-cancer.shtml

Regards,

Steve J

"Bob C." <BC@Bob.org> wrote in message
news:fas86g0317u@enews2.newsguy.com...

> Hi Steve, new numbers for you. I sent this several days ago and not only
> did the email go off into la-la land, I lost internet after that so did
> not know what happened. Something weird going on.

Got it, Bob. Your Internet must have gone down after you sent it and before
you got my reply.

I sure hope he's wrong about the re-addition of ADT2.




--
PSA 16 10/17/2000 @ 46
Biopsy 11/01/2000 G7 (3+4), T2c
RRP 12/15/2000 G7 (3+4), T3cN0M0 Neg margins
PSA <.1 <.1 <.1 .27 .37 .75 PSAD 0.19 years
EBRT 05-07/2002 @ 47
PSA .34 .22 .15 .21 .32 PSAD .056 years
Lupron 07/03 (1 mo) 8/03 and every 4 months there after
PSA .07 .05 .06 .09 .08 .132 .145 PSAD 1.4 years
Casodex added daily 07/06
PSA <0.04, <0.05, <0.04 (06/12/2007)
Non Illegitimi Carborundum

Bob,

I agree with Steve J. that you should learn more about clinical
trials. Another site you can look at is:

http://www.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials...nt-trial-guide

I'm not a doctor and my advice is strictly non-professional,
but for whatever it's worth, here is what it is:

I would talk to your oncologist about a long term plan.
What hormone therapies will he try? Will he try triple ADT
(that's something like Lupron, something like Casodex,
and something like Avodart (dutasteride))?

Steve K. was starting to have a PSA rise on Lupron alone
but when he added Casodex, the numbers came down again.

If and when the first line HT stops working, will he try second
line therapy, i.e., ketoconazole and/or estradiol? At what point
would he try that?

When and if would he recommend chemotherapy?

When and if would he recommend entering a clinical trial?
And when it comes to that, will he help you to find one that
matches your need?

I don't know your age or general health, but I think that if I
were in your shoes I would want to try aggressive treatment.
It is my understanding (remember, I'm not an expert and
my "understanding" might well be "misunderstanding") that
the less cancer you have, the better it responds to treatment.
To me, that means that you want to hit it hard with everything
you can while it's still relatively contained. I think I'd want to
try something like chemotherapy early on rather than wait
until I was dying and in pain.

It may be that if you tell your oncologist you want to fight
this disease hard, you can enlist his aid in doing just that
and not just following a non-plan of "let's wait and see
what to do next."

Best of luck.

Alan

Steve Jordan wrote:
>
> I recommend checking on GVAX. For four trials that are recruiting, see
> http://clinicaltrials-nccs.nlm.nih.gov/ct/search
> Regards,
>
> Steve J
Steve, many thanks for the input and the link. For checking out current
trials, it's the best I have seen so far. Not only has this summer been
a vacation from drugs, it has been a vacation from the constant checking
into one thing or another regarding this cancer thing. My wife and I
have been elsewhere as much as possible, like at our cottage, or fishing
the river at home, or doing any of the many other things there does not
seem to be enough time for!!! I am just now getting back to the reality
of looking for a plan of attack, with the intent to continue with an
aggressive battle. Or so go the plans. Provenge looked to be the most
promising weapon possibly available to me and with a trial center only
200 miles away, that was my first attempt at enrollment in any trial.
GVAX is also of interest for sure, and I will check into it as well.
Thanks again. Bob C

Alan Meyer wrote:
> Bob,

> I would talk to your oncologist about a long term plan.
Alan, thanks for the reply and the most informative link you passed
on. It should be called "Trials for Dummies, a Primer." Very educational.

The oncologist I see is a new guy in the area, actually the only one in
the area at this time. I have seen him but once, recently. My urologist,
who I have had a lot of faith in these past years, referred me to him
due to my progression and need for services beyond the scope of most
urologists.

He said sure, try the Lupron plus Casodex per the urologists
recommendation, it's not likely to do anything for me but it's worth a
try and I have time to play around with the numbers. His words. He
suggested possibly ketoconazole plus whatever as the next step after the
Lupron thing, and taxotere plus whatever somewhere down the road.

He would not comment on the current Provenge trial and I did not press
him further about trials at that time.

This oncologist did not seem to be an overly aggressive person nor did
he come forth with anything new I was not already familiar with. But
then I did not impress upon him my intent to get back to an aggressive
approach. My impression was that he is very busy and booked solid, and
maybe inclined to follow a standard step 1-12 treatment plan of some
sort that does not entail any real investment in thought and minimal
investment in his time.

My age is a young 62, my health is not bad, and I am retired and active.
I began fighting this thing with a psa of 55 at age 55 and from day one
have followed what I considered to be an aggressive approach until this
summer "vacation." It is now time to step back into the ring.

I can see that I do have to inform this oncologist how I want to fight
this thing, and then see what tools he thinks we should employ and get a
long term battle plan established. With or without his aid, I am most
interested in the immunotherapy trials, but also view conventional
chemotherapys at an early stage to be an option. In our first and only
face to face meeting, he did not impress me at all, but then I did not
give him much to work with.

Thanks for your educated input and your personal thoughts on this, it's
much appreciated. Bob C

Bob,

Is there anyway to travel to a Medical Oncologists that specializes in
Prostates?

Gourd Dancer
"Bob C." <BC@Bob.org> wrote in message news:fauqce0bb8@enews5.newsguy.com...
> Alan Meyer wrote:
>> Bob,
>
>> I would talk to your oncologist about a long term plan.
> Alan, thanks for the reply and the most informative link you passed on.
> It should be called "Trials for Dummies, a Primer." Very educational.
>
> The oncologist I see is a new guy in the area, actually the only one in
> the area at this time. I have seen him but once, recently. My urologist,
> who I have had a lot of faith in these past years, referred me to him due
> to my progression and need for services beyond the scope of most
> urologists.
>
> He said sure, try the Lupron plus Casodex per the urologists
> recommendation, it's not likely to do anything for me but it's worth a try
> and I have time to play around with the numbers. His words. He suggested
> possibly ketoconazole plus whatever as the next step after the Lupron
> thing, and taxotere plus whatever somewhere down the road.
>
> He would not comment on the current Provenge trial and I did not press him
> further about trials at that time.
>
> This oncologist did not seem to be an overly aggressive person nor did he
> come forth with anything new I was not already familiar with. But then I
> did not impress upon him my intent to get back to an aggressive approach.
> My impression was that he is very busy and booked solid, and maybe
> inclined to follow a standard step 1-12 treatment plan of some sort that
> does not entail any real investment in thought and minimal investment in
> his time.
>
> My age is a young 62, my health is not bad, and I am retired and active. I
> began fighting this thing with a psa of 55 at age 55 and from day one have
> followed what I considered to be an aggressive approach until this summer
> "vacation." It is now time to step back into the ring.
>
> I can see that I do have to inform this oncologist how I want to fight
> this thing, and then see what tools he thinks we should employ and get a
> long term battle plan established. With or without his aid, I am most
> interested in the immunotherapy trials, but also view conventional
> chemotherapys at an early stage to be an option. In our first and only
> face to face meeting, he did not impress me at all, but then I did not
> give him much to work with.
>
> Thanks for your educated input and your personal thoughts on this, it's
> much appreciated. Bob C

MAS wrote:
> Bob,
>
> Is there anyway to travel to a Medical Oncologists that specializes in
> Prostates?
>
> Gourd Dancer


That would be a definite possibility. Even if only for a second opinion
as to what plan(s) of attack are feasible. From where I live, travel is
pretty much required to see anyone!! I do feel that I have to give
another shot at my new oncologist and see where that leads. No matter
what, seeing one who specializes in prostate cancer would be much
preferred but they too did not all graduate at the head of their class
and references from someone you trust would be wise. That's not always
easy to come by, especially long distance. I do have a couple sources I
can go to though, for references. Thanks for the suggestion. Bob C

On
August 27, Bob C. replied to "MAS":

> MAS wrote:

>> Is there anyway to travel to a Medical Oncologists that specializes in
>> Prostates?

Bob wrote:

> That would be a definite possibility. Even if only for a second opinion
> as to what plan(s) of attack are feasible. From where I live, travel is
> pretty much required to see anyone!!

From the comfort of one's computer, one can post a PCa Digest and
questions on P2P (Physician to Patient) at:
http://www.prostatepointers.org/p2p/

Very shortly, one should receive a response from at least one PCa
specialist. Free, because they care.

All that a patient is required to do is to post a coherent Digest.

> I do feel that I have to give
> another shot at my new oncologist and see where that leads.

It might lead to prison! ;-)

> No matter
> what, seeing one who specializes in prostate cancer would be much
> preferred but they too did not all graduate at the head of their class
> and references from someone you trust would be wise. That's not always
> easy to come by, especially long distance.

See http://prostate-cancer.org/resource/...physician.html

Regards,

Steve J

Steve Jordan wrote:
>
Both look to be good sites. Once upon a time I frequently went to p2p
and monitored what was going on there but never posted or did the
digest. I will have to revisit that site again. The other site looks to
be useful also, thanks for the links. Bob C