Posted on 11/04/2023 9:56:43 AM PDT by ConservativeMind
Men with high-grade prostate cancer and low prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels have a poor prognosis. The question remains as to whether the chemotherapy drug docetaxel, which increases survival in metastatic prostate cancer, can improve the cure rate in these patients.
In a new study by investigators from Brigham and Women's Hospital, a meta-analysis of five prospective randomized clinical trials (RCTs) found that adding docetaxel to standard-of-care (SOC) treatment was associated with a 70% reduction in death from prostate cancer-specific mortality (PCSM).
Investigators performed a meta-analysis of the RCTs evaluating SOC treatment with radiotherapy and androgen deprivation therapy or with radical prostatectomy versus SOC plus docetaxel. The final study cohort of 2,184 patients included 145 eligible patients (6.6%) across four eligible RCTs.
"Of these 145 patients, 139 had excellent performance status [PS] and were the main focus of the study. An excellent PS identifies patients who can tolerate the full course of chemotherapy and therefore benefit if the treatment proves effective," says Anthony Victor D'Amico, MD, Ph.D., chief of Genitourinary Radiation Oncology at Brigham and Women's Hospital and senior author of the study.
Among these 139 patients, SOC plus docetaxel was associated with a significant 70% reduction in PCSM and nearly halved all-cause mortality. Remarkably, this treatment regiment dropped the 10-year PCSM rate from nearly 40% to less than 10%, leading to a 10-year overall survival of 80% as compared to 60%.
"It's a marked improvement in survival for these patients, who currently do not have any highly effective treatments," Dr. D'Amico says.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
Isn’t it the high PSA readings we should worry about. Sorry this is above me.
Shockingly, systemic inflammation is also linked to cancers, including enlarged prostate and prostate cancer.
Inflammation is a response to toxins and is a stealth disease for which there are literally dozens of associated maladies with their own names (eg, diseases).
Any symptoms of inflammation should be resolved by elimination and wow:
Health follows.
Amazing, isn’t it?
/s
I would guess these men had their prostates removed. That should drop PSA readings to near zero. The issue with metastatic cancer seems to be that the prostate cells have already circulated through the lymphatic system.
This is for people who have prostate cancer who have had treatment failures, to date.
It’s not really anything specific to a PSA score, but, generally, PSA usually goes up with worse prostate cancer situations, although some cancers don’t affect PSA much, in some people, so PSA is not completely reliable as a prostate cancer marker.
Again, I’m not a doctor, but this is what I’ve grown to know, in my studies.
Not necessarily. It is a sudden increase in PSA readings from any previous level that is the danger signal. Even very low PSA readings are a problem if they just doubled from the last test.
Persistent high PSA readings are a secondary indicator.
PING
I made a huge mistake, forgive me.
I would very much appreciate staying on you ping list, Apologies.
I made a huge mistake, forgive me.
I would very much appreciate staying on your ping list, Apologies.
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