Update on bipolar androgen therapy trial

Quick update for those who may be looking for a new treatment for mCRPC after Zytiga stopped working and don't want to go to chemo: the Johns Hopkins based trial of Xtandi vs. bipolar androgen therapy (monthly shots of testosterone while still on Lupron or similar) is still recruiting in at least some locations (mine is the Cancer Institute of New Jersey). I've been on BAT for four months and my PSA and alkaline phosphatase have gone down every month, now 80% lower than when I began

NJJon-

Fantastic! Do they just keep alternating until there's no further benefit? Let's hope that continues for a long. long time. I'm hoping that it will also restore sensitivity to Xtandi and Zytiga in their other trial. Sometimes the theory that looks good theoretically actually does work in real life. Your story gives a lot of people hope for the future.

I'm so glad you posted too because I had only briefly perused the paper you sent, and I thought to myself at the time - this is interesting, I want to go through this carefully - but then I got pulled away and didn't. I just printed it out and look forward to reading it in the morning. L'shana tova!

Fairwind - the idea is to smack it sharply with testosterone, to levels above what's natural. Like, 2000+. That lasts a short time, then falls rapidly, dropping back to castrate level somewhere (I think) in the last week or two of the month.

The theory behind it is more complicated than it might seem.

In general though I'd agree, I think we suffer today from a lack of understanding of the mechanics of this disease. In part because there are so many variants of it. It isn't just one simple issue. There are lots of components that all seem to differ from case to case.

My grandmother gave my brother whipped cream and he wanted more, and more, and more, and more... then it hit him... not long after he was found over the bathroom toilet. He never ate whipped cream again.
If PC wants testosterone I like the idea of feeding them until they pop! Hope it continues to work!

The only location I could find where TRANSFORMER was being conducted was Johns - Hopkins in Baltimore..Are there other sites participating in the trial? I would LOVE to get in on it...

Thanks Redwing..I sent a message off to Dr. Flaig at U.C. Denver who is listed as a participant. We will see what happens...

Dr Flaig responded and I'll have a meeting with him sometime next week...!