Any other options for prostate cancer treatment other than suppressing testosterone?

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TheBrain
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Any other options for prostate cancer treatment other than suppressing testosterone?

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A dear friend of mine who is now 67 years old was diagnosed with prostate cancer years ago. He went on testosterone-suppressing medication for about two years (as I recall). He had cognitive issues prior to this treatment, but I suspect this treatment accelerated them. Some years ago, he lost his senses of smell and taste.

Six years after he was deemed free of cancer, the prostate cancer is back. He has three small spots in a bone. He is back on that testosterone-suppressing medication. His doctor said they caught it "early," but metastasis is metastasis.

His cognition has worsened considerably. He can't remember much. He can't think straight. He can no longer manage his appointments. His wife drives him to them and has to manage everything for him. He quit his part-time job in April because he could no longer do it effectively.

Does anyone know of an effective treatment for prostate cancer that doesn't involve testosterone suppression (which carries a risk of cognitive decline)? He is going the conventional medicine route, but if there's some other treatment that might help, I'd like to mention it as a possibility. It seems like he's in a catch-22 situation.

A few years ago, I talked to both him and his wife about Dr. Bredesen's protocol, but he wasn't interested and she told me he wouldn't be willing to make lifestyle changes. I should add that he's an active alcoholic. However, he's way worse now, and he doesn't like how he feels. I wonder if he might be willing to take action now. I don't want to be a pain in the butt, but I would simply like to make them aware of what's possible. That is, if it's not too late for him. :(
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Re: Any other options for prostate cancer treatment other than suppressing testosterone?

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TheBrain wrote:A dear friend of mine who is now 67 years old was diagnosed with prostate cancer years ago. He went on testosterone-suppressing medication for about two years (as I recall). He had cognitive issues prior to this treatment, but I suspect this treatment accelerated them. Some years ago, he lost his senses of smell and taste.

Six years after he was deemed free of cancer, the prostate cancer is back. He has three small spots in a bone. He is back on that testosterone-suppressing medication. His doctor said they caught it "early," but metastasis is metastasis.

His cognition has worsened considerably. He can't remember much. He can't think straight. He can no longer manage his appointments. His wife drives him to them and has to manage everything for him. He quit his part-time job in April because he could no longer do it effectively.

Does anyone know of an effective treatment for prostate cancer that doesn't involve testosterone suppression (which carries a risk of cognitive decline)? He is going the conventional medicine route, but if there's some other treatment that might help, I'd like to mention it as a possibility. It seems like he's in a catch-22 situation.

A few years ago, I talked to both him and his wife about Dr. Bredesen's protocol, but he wasn't interested and she told me he wouldn't be willing to make lifestyle changes. I should add that he's an active alcoholic. However, he's way worse now, and he doesn't like how he feels. I wonder if he might be willing to take action now. I don't want to be a pain in the butt, but I would simply like to make them aware of what's possible. That is, if it's not too late for him. :(
Hi TheBrain, I have an uncle who is experiencing a return of prostate cancer that has also metastasized so I have been reading up lately on the topic. I have some familiarity because my longtime partner had very aggressive PC 10 years ago, which is in remission...or as we like to think, has been cured. Though many oncologists do not acknowledge the importance of the lifestyle factors...eating healthy food, limiting stress, getting good sleep, getting plenty of exercise...the more progressive ones do. A few of the things I have come across are lately are articles talking about the benefits of LND for tumor suppression, usually in conjunction with other therapy, and also medicinal mushrooms, especially Turkey Tail. There are high quality studies for both LDN and Turkey Tail. (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center has a good article on Turkey Tail on their website.)
Both my uncle and my partner were on testosterone blocking therapy without taking too much of a hit to cognition. Perhaps that is because of their genetic profile, but I also suspect that your friend´s alcohol consumption might be having an even
greater impact on Cognition.
That is a tough one.
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Re: Any other options for prostate cancer treatment other than suppressing testosterone?

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TheBrain, bony metastases in prostate cancer are unfortunately incurable and treatment is palliative. Anti-testosterone therapy does reduce tumor progression which untreated inevitably leads to bony pain. It sounds that with his alcoholic issues and current cognition, the difference in his cognitive status with just the intervention of trying to preserve his current testosterone levels would be extremely unlikely to be successful.
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Re: Any other options for prostate cancer treatment other than suppressing testosterone?

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Curcumin it definitely a safe option. Theracurmin has evaluated for cancers. I strongly recommend Theracurmin.
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Re: Any other options for prostate cancer treatment other than suppressing testosterone?

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Thank you, floramaria, Stavia, and cflegal for your responses. I hear the message from floramaria and Stavia: My friend's alcoholism is having more impact on his cognition than his suppressed testosterone. Furthermore, if he doesn't give up alcohol, there's little point in suggesting any other interventions. That message was right in front of my face, but I couldn't see it!

So I will make this point to my friends and then let it go (unless they are interested in more). I suspect my friend will be unwilling to give up alcohol.

It didn't occur to me that his cancer treatment was only palliative. floramaria, had your partner's prostate cancer metastasized before it went into remission?
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Re: Any other options for prostate cancer treatment other than suppressing testosterone?

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TheBrain wrote: floramaria, had your partner's prostate cancer metastasized before it went into remission?
The oncology specialists he went to called it “micro-metastasis”. He had a rising PSA after prostate was removed, so the cancer was active elsewhere in his body. Treatment was pretty aggressive, as was the cancer. In addition to treatment, he began following protocol similar to what many here do...reducing stress, optimizing sleep, changing his diet, adding supplements that sounded like they might give him an edge, and getting a lot of exercise among the changes he made.
With my uncle, his had metastasized to his bones. He has been in pretty much continuous treatment over the last decade with drugs and hormones to keep it under control. That has recently failed to keep the cancer in check and now he is beginning chemo.
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Re: Any other options for prostate cancer treatment other than suppressing testosterone?

Post by zc_hl »

If he is not ready to make changes to his lifestyle, you can always suggest him to take Pao pereira extracts: https://www.beljanski.org/engl/category ... lications/
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Re: Any other options for prostate cancer treatment other than suppressing testosterone?

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floramaria wrote:
TheBrain wrote: floramaria, had your partner's prostate cancer metastasized before it went into remission?
The oncology specialists he went to called it “micro-metastasis”. He had a rising PSA after prostate was removed, so the cancer was active elsewhere in his body. Treatment was pretty aggressive, as was the cancer. In addition to treatment, he began following protocol similar to what many here do...reducing stress, optimizing sleep, changing his diet, adding supplements that sounded like they might give him an edge, and getting a lot of exercise among the changes he made.
With my uncle, his had metastasized to his bones. He has been in pretty much continuous treatment over the last decade with drugs and hormones to keep it under control. That has recently failed to keep the cancer in check and now he is beginning chemo.
What great news about your partner! He's an inspiration! But I'm sorry to hear your uncle is needing to step up treatment and begin chemo. Hopefully, he will fair well with it.
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Re: Any other options for prostate cancer treatment other than suppressing testosterone?

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zc_hl wrote:If he is not ready to make changes to his lifestyle, you can always suggest him to take Pao pereira extracts: https://www.beljanski.org/engl/category ... lications/
Thanks for this suggestion.

I've learned that my friend isn't willing to give up drinking, nor he is willing to add any supplements or extracts to his regimen. At this point, the question in my mind is: How much time does he have left? The quality of his life has diminished considerably and will only diminish further. I feel sad for him and his wife.

One thing I didn't mention was that he was placed on an osteoporosis medication called Evista to increase his bone strength because the prostate cancer had metastasized to his bone. Unfortunately, he developed osteonecrosis of the jaw from this medication, and it's quite painful. So much for the usefulness of that palliative treatment.
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Re: Any other options for prostate cancer treatment other than suppressing testosterone?

Post by floramaria »

TheBrain wrote: I've learned that my friend isn't willing to give up drinking, nor he is willing to add any supplements or extracts to his regimen.
I am sorry to hear this. Sad for him, for his wife and for you, and his friends. I can only imagine how challenging it would have been for me if my partner had not been willing and able to make the changes that contributed to his moving through the crisis time of his diagnosis and treatment to such a positive outcome. How said it would have been for him and for the many many people who love him.
We are so fortunate.

His doctors at Prostate Oncology Specialists had rarely seen anyone make much radical changes and stick with them. He not only did everything they suggested, but also devoured books on cancer cures and implemented what made sense to him, or even that didn’t make sense but was worth trying anyway.
Being part of this community of health activists at ApoE4.Info who take information and act on it, I think it is easy to forget how rare that is.

That your friend is making the decisions he is making is sad, but also understandable. I feel a lot of compassion for him, confronted with the trauma of cancer metastasis and asked to make an enormous change by giving up his drinking. Decades ago, I watched as a wonderful male friend tried to stop drinking by going into a residential treatment center. I think he stayed for 6 months or so, a long time anyway. He thought he’d was fine and would stay that way outside of treatment. He was drinking again within a week of coming out. He told me he just didn’t like being the person he was without alcohol. The mechanisms underlying alcoholism for any person are profound and complex.
Confronting cancer and alcoholism at the same time would be a tall order for any mortal.

Holding you and your friend in my heart.
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