Advanced prostrate cancer

Hi VanDan and welcome

I am no expert on Lutetium and Olaparib but there was an interesting article in The D Mail 29/11 ref Olaparib. Perhaps that is the article that  u were referring?

It could be worth looking at cancerresearchuk under clinical trials to see if these are available although I think that NICE are still evaluating Olaparib.

Best wishes

Steve

Hi VanDan

Just saw your post. My brother, diagnosed November 2014, had been through all the usual treatments - zoladex, bicalutamide, enzalutamide, Docetaxal, Cabasitaxal, and had run out of options when we heard about Lutetium. In the last 18 months or so it has become available in the uk - we used The London Clinic, but I believe The Royal Marsden do it too. Prior to this it would have been a trip to Germany or Finland.  Not available on the NHS yet, so it is very costly (but his health insurance covered it as he'd been with NHS the whole way to that point). 

It won't work for everyone, but they do a preliminary Gallium PSMA scan to determine whether it will potentially work.  He had his preliminary scan in Feb 2020, was deemed suitable for treatment and started mid- March.  He had 4 treatments at approximately 10-12 week intervals (dodging Covid lockdowns etc).  We travelled to London from Belfast. Treatments are very straightforward (an infusion, similar to Chemo); done as a day patient and then just care taken for a day or two not to be close to people for long periods (due to the radioactivity).  The treatment dramatically reduced PSA from 880 down to a stable figure of 260 at present.  He is due to get his repeat Gallium PSMA scan in January although we don't think further treatment will be offered. The main side effect for him has been slightly more tiredness in the week immediately following treatment, but perfectly manageable (and he continues to run his craft business full time!).

For a simple overview about Lutetium - he's had an extra year of life that he may not have had otherwise.

I hope the potted history above is helpful.

Best wishes 

Hi

Sorry for the delay in replying it’s been very hectic looking after my Dad, thought I was going to lose him at one stage.

Thank you for your post and information, My dad just about got onto the lutetium 177  programme and I want to share he has had an amazing turnaround in health. 4 weeks in and his PSA levels have dropped dramatically.284 to 125,

I hope your brother is still ok

x

Hi

Thank you for your post and apologies for the delay in replying. It’s been very full on looking after my Dad.

We did the test for the BRCA gene but unfortunately he didn’t have it so Olaparib was a non starter.

just started the Lutetium 177 treatment which is showing promising results.

best wishes

Hi

thats good news about the Lutetium , hope all goes well

Hi VanDan

i wish your Dad well on his journey. Sadly I have to report that my brother died in February, quite suddenly. Read on.

However do understand that the Lutetium 177 definitely gave him a year of remarkable health that he wouldn’t otherwise have had. For that we were most grateful. The first 2 cycles gave excellent improvement; the third less improvement & the forth was stand still. Hence no further cycles were offered. You will see from my first post that he was starting from a higher PSA than your Dad, but had the same type of improvement (his original diagnosis figure was 2750!) so for his condition to be held back for over 6 years in total with the various treatments (with good quality of life & very few symptoms) was wonderful. We had known from the outset diagnosis that the prognosis was 4-6 years, so he exceeded that.

Speaking with his oncologist after his death it was clear that the ‘disease burden’ was starting to impact (he was due to start palliative radiotherapy) & ultimately he had a pulmonary embolism, which resulted in his sudden death. The reality was that he likely only had another 4-5 months, so despite his departure being sudden (which shocked us all) he neither suffered at the end, nor did he have to endure a progressive decline which he would have found very hard, given he was still running his business full time, right to the day he died.

There is no doubt, as has often been said on this, and other forums, a cancer journey is difficult for all those involved, but the support in talking and sharing experiences with others is immeasurable. We all take comfort from these connections. 

Take care & best wishes

Norah

Norah 

i’m really sorry to hear about the passing of your brother, and I appreciate you sharing his cancer journey with me. 
The Macmillan site has really helped my father with the decisions he had to take regarding his treatment, so a BIG thank you for reaching out.

You take care

vanessa