Here is news of big step forward in testing, monitoring treatment effectiveness (need to switch to different treatment / drugs, etc.):
"... Stray cancer cells in the blood mean that a tumour has spread or is likely to, many doctors believe. A test that can capture such cells has the potential to transform care for many types of cancer, especially breast, prostate, colon and lung. The test can find one cancer cell in a billion or more healthy cells. It uses a microchip that resembles a lab slide covered in 78,000 tiny posts, like bristles on a hairbrush. The posts are coated with antibodies that bind to tumour cells. When blood is forced across the chip, cells ping off the posts like balls in a pinball machine but the cancer cells stick, and stains make them glow so researchers can count and capture them for study. ..."
More at: http://pharmalive.com/news/index.cfm?articleID=752611&categoryid=9&newsletter=1 Or:
http://www.therapeuticsdaily.com/ne...979056&contentType=sentryarticle&channelID=26 which seems to be same text.
Unfortunately, test is not yet available - only in the research stage by J. & J. but they are going "full steam" on it with hope to have product on the market ASAP.
I had prostate removed a few years ago, and examination of it seemed to show cancer was well confined to it but that turned out not to be the case. I have low rising PSA level when I suspend drug suppressing testosterone production with the drug. When on that drug my PSA is undetectable (<0.003) but it is well known that cancerous prostate cells learn how to multiply without testosterone in a few years. I.e. you have a "chemotherapy failure" or often still called Castration Resistant Prostate Cancer, CRPC, from the era when castration was the only life extending treatment available.
Because I did not like this failure prospect, and the drugs are expensive, and some MDs think that periodically ceasing to take the drug may extend the length of their effectiveness (not much good evidence for this yet) I did a lot of research at PubMed etc. and found there is good (Pier reviewed journal articles) evidence for the possible benefit from some diet items. I take seven of these different food items each day, in a "shot gun" approach. To evaluate their effects, if any, I need to go off drug anyway and see how my PSA responds.
I think my diet cocktail is not very effective but may be of some use - too early to tell. I am nearing the end of my second "off drug" test period with PSA at recent measure of 0.06. When I terminate drug, my Testosterone,T, of course rises back towards normal. When PSA is a little higher, but still less than 0.1, I hope, I will go back on the drugs.
I reason that during this drug-free, "T recovering" period there should be a relatively fixed functional relationship between PSA and T if the number of prostate cells in my body has remained constant. I.e. I look very much at the the ratio (PSA / T) to see how I am doing with my therapeutic diet. It has shown a slight, but not statistically significant, decrease (my low PSA provides data with only one significant figure). At least that ratio has not increased at any T level. (The function is not exactly linear. I am still with too little data to know the functional form, if it exists.)
Anyway I hope this thread may permit those with cancer (or those at higher than average risk) to tell what they are doing to live longer and new developments, like that at start of this post, they learn of.
"... Stray cancer cells in the blood mean that a tumour has spread or is likely to, many doctors believe. A test that can capture such cells has the potential to transform care for many types of cancer, especially breast, prostate, colon and lung. The test can find one cancer cell in a billion or more healthy cells. It uses a microchip that resembles a lab slide covered in 78,000 tiny posts, like bristles on a hairbrush. The posts are coated with antibodies that bind to tumour cells. When blood is forced across the chip, cells ping off the posts like balls in a pinball machine but the cancer cells stick, and stains make them glow so researchers can count and capture them for study. ..."
More at: http://pharmalive.com/news/index.cfm?articleID=752611&categoryid=9&newsletter=1 Or:
http://www.therapeuticsdaily.com/ne...979056&contentType=sentryarticle&channelID=26 which seems to be same text.
Unfortunately, test is not yet available - only in the research stage by J. & J. but they are going "full steam" on it with hope to have product on the market ASAP.
I had prostate removed a few years ago, and examination of it seemed to show cancer was well confined to it but that turned out not to be the case. I have low rising PSA level when I suspend drug suppressing testosterone production with the drug. When on that drug my PSA is undetectable (<0.003) but it is well known that cancerous prostate cells learn how to multiply without testosterone in a few years. I.e. you have a "chemotherapy failure" or often still called Castration Resistant Prostate Cancer, CRPC, from the era when castration was the only life extending treatment available.
Because I did not like this failure prospect, and the drugs are expensive, and some MDs think that periodically ceasing to take the drug may extend the length of their effectiveness (not much good evidence for this yet) I did a lot of research at PubMed etc. and found there is good (Pier reviewed journal articles) evidence for the possible benefit from some diet items. I take seven of these different food items each day, in a "shot gun" approach. To evaluate their effects, if any, I need to go off drug anyway and see how my PSA responds.
I think my diet cocktail is not very effective but may be of some use - too early to tell. I am nearing the end of my second "off drug" test period with PSA at recent measure of 0.06. When I terminate drug, my Testosterone,T, of course rises back towards normal. When PSA is a little higher, but still less than 0.1, I hope, I will go back on the drugs.
I reason that during this drug-free, "T recovering" period there should be a relatively fixed functional relationship between PSA and T if the number of prostate cells in my body has remained constant. I.e. I look very much at the the ratio (PSA / T) to see how I am doing with my therapeutic diet. It has shown a slight, but not statistically significant, decrease (my low PSA provides data with only one significant figure). At least that ratio has not increased at any T level. (The function is not exactly linear. I am still with too little data to know the functional form, if it exists.)
Anyway I hope this thread may permit those with cancer (or those at higher than average risk) to tell what they are doing to live longer and new developments, like that at start of this post, they learn of.
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