question about Lupron

David,
Get a second opinion for starters. Obviously you not in immediate danger. Talk to a radiation oncologist talk to a different oncologist and educate yourself to make an informed treatment decision.

That said, lupron works. I don't know a lot about radiation other than my gramps used it and ultimately died of lymphoma caused by the radiation. He lived a long time after radiation. I don't know what your psa is. Is there a radiation target or would they beshooting in the dark. Often 6 months to a year of h/t can put the cancer to bed. The side effects are not pleasant but they are not that bad. Guys usually come back to normal afterward. That has been my experiance and thatas well of a close friend. It sounds to me likeyou have options so take a little time and make the rigbt choice.

Thanks, it's not for me. A friend I made on this journey. He's less fortunate than me and now has to make this choice. I didn't want to question him but thought it odd when he said his doctor suggested Lupron without mentioning any other treatment. As ignorant as I may be on this subject, I assumed lupron was given in conjunction with another treatment such as radiation.

Living1963 said...
Often 6 months to a year of h/t can put the cancer to bed

Are you saying that a course of hormone therapy can be curative?  I was under the impression that hormone therapy can only arrest the growth of PCa but that it cannot kill / eliminate it. 

He was a g7 but 4+3. His pathology was clean except it did mention how the tumor was basically on the surface of the prostate. My friend's wife is assuming that this is where it escaped from. PSA was 0.02 after surgery and stayed in that area for a few readings. It's now 0.1 from this one reading. He's retested to see if it's a blip but it looks like it's back.

So that's my question, if it's back, why treat it with Lupron alone and is that a normal common form of treatment?

Dave- SRT is a gamble and some docs may tell patients such straight out, some docs might even feel or believe the SRT is not worth doing.  Lupron also is not the only choice in stone either.

Post Edited (zufus) : 4/18/2012 4:56:28 AM (GMT-6)

well that's my question.

Isn't lupron usually done in conjunction with radiation?

I'm not going to mention it to them, but I was just confused as to why their doctor would suggest only lupron.

Casey:

I didn't say HT does not kill PC cells. It absolutely does.

I said HT is not a cure.

Mel

I don't care much for the term cure in PCa. Cure in effect means it's done, you never have to worry about it again.

davidg,
It was suggested to me to go with adjuvant HT (Lupron and Casodex) alone as opposed to with radiation. I did research on it and swayed my doctor who today is advocating that approach for cases like mine. I was 4+3=7 with positive margins and seminal vesicle invasion. All zeros since and one test pending with news tomorrow...

I think your friend needs to ask more people more questions...

Tony

Yes David,
My contact info is correct here and anywhere you look on the web if he'd like to do a "background" check...

Tony