Provenge

Yeah there are a few here who are interested. Thank you and please keep us posted

the lab is in new jersey

Bob, my best to your brother. I sincerely hope that he fares well under Provenge. There are many of us here interested in the process and how one does with it. And all hoping it will knock the stuffing out of any remaining cancer from him. Please keep us posted as he moves along with the Provenge.

David in SC

Bob,

I am only one of a few of us on HW that have had the Provenge treatments. Let me add some insight to you post.

The first phase is called Leukapherisis, and that is where you are hooked up in a chair to a blood collection and spinning machine. You have a tube coming out of one arm hooked up to the machine that gives your entire blood run through twice during the procedure, while the machine spins out the white blood cells and keeps them in a bag, similar to an IV bag. The process takes any where from 3-4 hours depending on how fast a patients blood flows.

Dendreon Corporaton maps out this entire process with precise planning. I went to the American Red Cross to have my Leukapherisis procedure. As the ARC was wrapping up. taking the tubes out of my arms, getting the bag of my white blood cells off the machine, a FedEx courrier would walk through the door and collect the bag of WBC's and immediately drive to the airport, where a plane was waiting for the bag of my blood. The Plane would depart and fly to Seattle (the manufacturing site that processed my WBCs. As menitoned earlier in another post, they first had Seattle, then they opened a site in New Jersey, California, and now other locations. Another FedEx Courrier was waiting for the plane to arrive, grabbed the box with my WBCs and drove it over to the Dendreon plant.

Apparently, Dendreon scrubs and cleans the WBCs and then attach the bio-engineered product called sipueucel-T to the WBCs. When this process is completed, they have a courrier scheduled to pick it up and run it to the airport where a plane is waiting to fly it back down to me in Salt Lake City. As I was walking into the cancer center to get the infusion of my WBCs and the Provenge product, literally the courrier from FedEx would be walking in with the box containing my IV bag of my white blood cells and the Provenge product. The nurses had to start the infusion within twenty minutes of the product arrival. The nurses give you antihistamines and Ibuprofin before the infusion begins and as they are starting IV's on both arms. One for the product and one to be ready in case a patient has an allergic reaction to the product. Fortunately, I never did.

My routine was to have the Leukapheris on a Monday morning, and then return on Thursday at noon for the infusion of my WBCs and Provenge.

The standard cyle is to have three treatments, three weeks apart. It is common for a patient to have flu like symptions for the next day or the day following the infusion. Fever, chills, aches, etc. Which I did but they were something that could be endured.

I participted in a small study group of 40 men last year that were recently diagnosed and had committed to having a radical prostatectomy following the three Provenge treatments. Heretofore, they had given Provenge to men with Stage 4 metastatic PCa, My group was different, since were just diagnosed and Dendreon wanted to see the cellular structure from our biopsies and compare them to the pathology cells taken during surgery to see if Provenge made any difference. We still do not know the results of the study. In fact, I just went in today for my 48 week exam and follow-up. I am not sure when they will conclude the study and publish the results.

In my small study group of 40, they randomly selected a few of us to receive a fourth treatment of Provenge, post surgery, which I was one of the patients selected.

As you will see in my signature line, I had horrific pathology and should be testing positive for PCa, but somehow I am non-detectable out 11 months from surgery and that is with the ultra-sensitive PSA test. How can one explain the non-detectable with my very high grade cancer? Even my amazing urologist oncologist surgeon that I met with again today just smiled and was so pleased for me and he has high hopes for the sipuleucel-T product and having it use a cancer patients own white blood cells and immune system to fight and kill the PCa cells.

Dendreon just had a conference in San Diego late last week to discuss having patients using Provenge (non test study patients) keep journals of their health post Provenge treatments and they Dendreon will start to run immune system blood tests to monitor how long the product is effective. I would imagine that is due to my feedback to them of the side effects I continue to experience. usually monthly I get an episode of severe chills and fatigue that last about 18 hours, over the last couple of months the frequency has increased to every 2-3 weeks. Dendreon simply needs more patient feedback to see if others are experiencing the side effects besides me.

In my case, the same specialized nurse was present at all four infusions, and we email each other very frequently, They do have me keep a health journal, listing all the medications i am on, start on or eliminate since the Provenge treatments, and part of the journal is to record illness, what they are, how long they last, etc. I would assume your brother will be doing this as well.

If either of you would like to contact me for more information, please do so. If you go to my profice page you will see my email address.

I hope your brother has tremendous success with Provenge and the drug does seek, find and destroys the PCa cells it was designed to do.

Best regards to the both of you on this journey. I wish you both great success, health and happiness.

Dendreon

I've been "Provenged".

My three successful infusions were spread out over several months, partly due to some emergency hostpitalizations (yes, plural), partly due to personal plans (an intervening cruise), partly due to a regional black-out on a scheduled leukapheresis day, and partly to two "failed" infusions.

I say "failed" because the leukapheresis' went OK (more on that later), but when the treated "product" package was opened for infusion, there were odd "strands" of something in the liquid. That is, the liquid was clear (it is kinda milky normally, but with no visible particles) when it left the Dendreon factory (Southern California, only an hour away), but somehow developed these strands enroute. Apparently it is a rare phenomenon, and usually some careful "massaging" of the bag will put the "strands" back into solution. In my first infusion, the docs "massaged" the bag for some 20 minutes or so and we were good to go, but on the second try the massaging had no effect, and the infusion was called off (by the Dendreon rep). My doc had cleared his appointment day for this historic occasion (I was his first Provenge patient), and his staff had to work overtime, so he had sacrificed much for this, and was NOT pleased. The third attempt at infusion was successful (now I had two), the fourth attempt "failed" with the strands again, then the fifth attempt was successful and now I had the three infusions.

I had severe reactions to the leukapheresis on four of the five occasions ("Citrate" reaction) and the blood-drawing process was most unpleasant and anxiety-producing. However, I have had no discernible reactions to the infusions (felt a little cold and tired for 12 hours afterwards).

One of the "downsides" to being Provenged is there is really no way to measure its effectiveness. Apparently Provenge does not affect PSA numbers (can't really understand why) so other than WAITING to see if something does or does not develop....!? Provenge has about an 80% success rate, but HOW will I know if I am one of the 80%, or one of the 20%???

Unfortunately, WHILE I was in the process of being Provenged, residual cancer tissues in the prostate bed went NUTS (Gleason 9, remember) and formed a large tumor around my bladder, causing all sorts of urinary misery, and I had 80 Grays of radiation to slow it down. My FEELING (can't be confirmed) is that the Provenge in me couldn't cope with the big mass, but now that it has been "de-massed" (not the official technical term), *MAYBE* the Provenge will be able to "mop up" and knock this monster out.

Post Edited (sequoiaranger) : 3/30/2012 9:47:21 AM (GMT-6)

My brother had a followup with the doctor at the infusion center today. The doctor said according to the blood tests his body is successfully fighting the cancer. I was of the impression that there was no way to determine that. I couldn't find out yet if it was a PSA test they used to make that determination.

Best regards,
Bob

My brother had his 2nd Leukapheresis procedure on Friday. This is the procedure where blood components are removed for manufacturing the serum to be used for infusion.

The procedure went smoothly with no immediate side affects. Today (Saturday) however, he is experiencing substantial fatigue. No other side affects to report so far.

He goes to the infusion center on Monday.

Best regards,
Bob

Very good reason to get a port.

Thanks for the update Bob

Best thoughts and prayers for your brother.

Bud

Here's hoping that "no report" after so significant an event (the end of Provenge infusions) means you have mentally put all this behind you! Good!

I had many trials and tribulations with the Provenge procedures, and for me Provenge did NOT do its job! However, I know of people for whom it worked (Devastated1 here).

My best wishes for your recovery. Keep posting here on your progress with Provenge and any feedback on its effects.

John's (my brother) final infusion was on Monday. He has an appointment on Friday to have the port removed. He was sleepy after the infusion was finished but no other side affects. He was administered 25 mg of benedryl which I believe caused him to be sleepy.

At this point after completion of the Provenge series of treatments he is suffering no side affects. He is back to working full time. The doctor will take another blood test some time in the next 2 weeks. Hopefully we will be able to determine at least the short term benefit of the treatment.

Regards,
Bob