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Testosternone as a treatment

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Posted Today 4:16 PM (GMT 0)
I saw this on the web this morning, sorry I don't have the link.

Johns Hopkins is testing overdosing men who have advanced PCa with testosterone and then subsequent withdrawal of testosterone. Yes, testosterone.

It seems to work but they don't know how.
Posted Today 4:53 PM (GMT 0)
The link
www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/surprise_high_dose_testosterone_therapy_helps_some_men_with_advanced_prostate_cancer
Posted Today 5:34 PM (GMT 0)
The pharmaceutical companies are not going to be happy about this.....testosterone injections cast about $20-$30 each....Zytiga and Xtandi run about $8000 to $8500 a month......
Posted Today 8:05 PM (GMT 0)

Fairwind said...
The pharmaceutical companies are not going to be happy about this.....testosterone injections cast about $20-$30 each....Zytiga and Xtandi run about $8000 to $8500 a month......

Wouldn't that be wonderful! And if it works out, and for PC cancer in general as opposed to just those who have become non-reponsive to lowered testosterone, I'll be happy it is here but still wishing so much it could have come on the scene a few years earlier. But, better late than never.

Though I guess, even if it proves to be really effective ONLY for castrate resistant(correct term?) folks, then in reality it could end up being effective for every one. Because, wouldn't most folks just wait to be in that category rather than first under going treatments with potential disastrous SEs? I bet I would. Or, would have.
Posted Today 8:55 PM (GMT 0)
I think it ONLY works on Hormone Refractory patients. To make the cancer cells react in the desired fashion, first they must be starved of Testosterone so they develop into a form that can not deal with a sudden, massive, increase in testosterone..

The treatment protocol keeps patients on Lupron to suppress natural testosterone then slams the patient with a safe but large testosterone injection..The cancer cells have no time to adjust to the almost instant change in their environment..
Posted 12/2/2016 7:29 AM (GMT 0)
The idea that Testosterone can help defeat PCa is a strange twist to the PCa story.

I saw this article:
www.techtimes.com/articles/187548/20161201/prostate-cancer-patient-cured-after-being-given-male-hormone-testosterone-to-shock-tumors.htm

Alf
Posted 12/2/2016 12:07 PM (GMT 0)
This piece of news was simply astounding today.
It's like putting out a fire with gasoline.
Posted 12/2/2016 1:47 PM (GMT 0)

An38 said...
This piece of news was simply astounding today.
It's like putting out a fire with gasoline.

Well, maybe not gasoline, but you can put out a fire with home heating oil. It has to be a small fire, and you have to dump on a lot of fuel oil, but the oil can smother the fire by cutting off oxygen before the fire can bring the oil to its flash point.

BTW, I admit to being biased, but if the analogy of ". . . giving testosterone to a PCa patient is like throwing gasoline on a fire" was true, why wouldn't they immediately castrate ALL PCa patients?
Posted 12/2/2016 5:21 PM (GMT 0)
:why wouldn't they immediately castrate ALL PCa patients?"

65% of all PC patients are G-6 and will survive with only minimal treatment. They seldom get into ADT so no need to castrate them...The G-7 and up people usually undergo surgery or radiation or some other form of treatment which is usually successful so no need to castrate them either..So that leaves the guys with aggressive PC that have failed their primary treatment and were put on ADT and have reached the point where the ADT is no longer effective. THESE are the men that might gain some time by trying the "BAT" treatment..The fact that it uses a simple to administer, readily available low cost drug with few side-effects makes this a no brainer....
Posted 12/2/2016 6:28 PM (GMT 0)

Fairwind said...
:why wouldn't they immediately castrate ALL PCa patients?"

65% of all PC patients are G-6 and will survive with only minimal treatment. They seldom get into ADT so no need to castrate them...The G-7 and up people usually undergo surgery or radiation or some other form of treatment which is usually successful so no need to castrate them either..So that leaves the guys with aggressive PC that have failed their primary treatment and were put on ADT and have reached the point where the ADT is no longer effective. THESE are the men that might gain some time by trying the "BAT" treatment..The fact that it uses a simple to administer, readily available low cost drug with few side-effects makes this a no brainer....

Fairwind - I fully understand and agree with what you're saying here. I just posed that rhetorical question to try to blow some smoke at the old advice that ". . . administering testosterone to a PCa patient is like pouring gasoline onto a fire."

Just being facetious. Sorry if it came across wrong.
Posted 12/4/2016 5:55 PM (GMT 0)
As a sidebar to this whole discussion, the studies and trials mentioned are being funded by the NIH, National Institute of Health, NOT by any drug company. The giant pharmaceutical multi-national companies are only interested in developing and promoting drugs that result in billions of dollars in sales..A treatment that uses a low-cost generic drug like BAT is lucky to ever get out of the starting blocks..BAT will have to produce spectacular results and get a lot of publicity before it is accepted as a mainstream treatment..

There is another form of cancer that is treated with ADT. Breast cancer...Patients frequently have their ovaries removed to eliminate their estrogen which fuels breast cancer like testosterone fuels prostate cancer..I wonder if anyone is experimenting along the lines of BAT with breast cancer patients? Might be worth a try, the same mechanisms might work in women too. It is forums such as this with thousands of readers who spread the word of new developments very quickly and keep the developers feet to the fire...
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