Afraid

My name is Todd and I am 44 years old. I have been diagnosed for 28 months. At the time of my diagnosis my psa was 3216 and the monster had spread to my lungs and my bones. Hormones knocked it on its butt and my psa fell to .09. In the last 7 months psa has gone from .09 to .25 to .44 to .80. Too young to die from this crap. Do I have any options. I have heard about provenge. I have been informed taxol rarely works.HELP

Todd-

I have metastases to my lungs and pelvis and am in the middle of a clinical trial. I mentioned it on another forum and was asked for more details in the hope it could help others. What follows is my post on the other forum:

The drug is made by Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) and is called Sprycel
(generic: dasatinib). It has proved to be almost miraculous, and is
FDA approved, for patients suffering from chronic myelogenous leukemia
(CML) and Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic
leukemia and who have failed after initially doing very well on
Gleevec.

There are only about 5,000 new diagnoses of those diseases per year,
and BMS is hoping (quite properly, I believe) that Sprycel will be
effective against solid tumors, also. On biopsy, it was discovered
that the cells in my lung nodules share an 'src' protein with the
leukemia patients. This protein aids the cells in reproducing
uncontrollably.

Currently there are a number of trials , for all kinds of cancers. My
trial has me taking two 50 mg tablets of Sprycel every day and having
infusions (iv) of the standard drugs Taxotere and Prednisone every
twenty-one days. I'm to have six infusions altogether - I had number
four last week.

Just before I had cycle number three, I had CT and bone scans which
were compared to the scans done just before I started on the meds.
The scans showed that the nodules on my lungs have been reduced in
number and many of the remaining nodules are smaller compared to the
earlier scan. The bone scan shows no change in the lesion on my
pelvis - also good news because it had grown during the period from
Feb. 2008 to June 2008.

Most of the links shown in Google for Sprycel or dasatinib relate to
CML. One of the first ones I followed was Jerry Mayfield's diary at
http://www.newcmldrug.com/diary_interface/Results/Diary.asp. Although
he suffered from CML, I was intrigued by his diary, although I admit
to not understanding all the technical terms related to his disease.
Jerry was one of the first participants in a Sprycel trial, which was
done at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Perhaps part of my
fascination with Jerry's account has to do with the fact that my
medical oncologist, Dr. John Araujo is also at Anderson and is, in
fact, the lead investigator of the trial in which I'm enrolled. I'd
recommend reading Jerry's diary because not only is it very well
written, I found it very uplifting and hopeful - something of which
I'm in dire need. Fortunately for me, the trial is also being done in
Nyack, New York, which is about seventy miles from my home. It is my
understanding that these same trials are being done in many countries
around the world.

I hope this has been helpful. Feel free to ask any questions you'd
like.

-Les

Todd,

Of course we understand....Ron was diagnosed a few months after our last child left the house and we had the world by the tail so to speak...some extra money, bought a couple of harleys, a RV, bought a cabin in the mountains etc....now, his PSA has gone from 0 to 12 in a few months and our oncologist tells us he is sorry...SORRY!!  I don't know what to do, don't really have a plan B...I do find comfort when all is wrong in my world by watching the video of the dying professorVIEW IMAGEhis journey was remarkable...remember we are all here for the same reason, trying to live or help someone live.

Debbie

Debbie,
My heart goes out to you and your husband. SORRY! I feel your pain. There is more out there and we must all share what works and what does not. Remember our doctors are only practicing medicine.
Look into (pau d' arco.) I take ten vegie caps a day. It may not help but it wont hurt and my oncologist told me so. I think it helps. It is the inner bark of a tree that grows in Brazil. It has many anti-cancer property's. It is cheap. If you a box of 1000 caps it is 20 bucks plus 20 shipping..If you order 2000 it is 40 bucks and they wave the shipping. To me its a no-brainer herbspicetea.com is the web-site I use