Anyone taking finasteride tablets? Friend is 82 and been on watch and wait for 6 years. PSA now 12 and getting up in the night at least 7 times. Doctor wants to put him on these tablets but having read the side effects he is really worried about taking them. Thanks
Hi Shar. I seem to remember that Dafna's Jacob jacobanddafna was on this before his diagnosis. I know she is taking a break from everything prostate cancer at the moment but she might pick the tag up.
Hope you had a good time Shar - I like to wander around the old town in Rhodes. Still hot where we live on the Peloponnese and desperate for some rain to fatten the olives.
In April 2023 Jacob started Fenesteride due to waking up at night with loo trips and also the urologist at the time claimed that his prostate is too large and the Fenesteride will shrink it.
I believe that the Fenesteride caused the aggressive cancer. Jacob did not have PC and within 7 months his PSA trippled and the PC was diagnosed. Before the fenesteride the MRI was cleared. Here is the thing: The American FDA states clearly on the fenesteride box that is can cause aggressive prostate cancer. Here in the UK they do not share this view. At the time, when it was prescribed we had the conversation with the GP. We were told that all medications got their risks and the risks are minimal. Well, for us it was a disaster.
We put it behind us now otherwise it will destroy us. Also this is my own opinion and our personal experience.
Thanks Dafna. I didn't know this so I needed to find the evidence. You are quite right in what you say that it is believed it can promote high grade prostate cancers. For balance it is thought it can reduce the risk of developing low grade cancers. This is some of the takeout from a meta analysis.
This study confirms that finasteride significantly reduced the risk of prostate cancer; however, the malignant degree of prostate cancer was increased. Studies with larger sample sizes are needed to better clarify the correlation between finasteride use and prostate cancer.
It is believed that the conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone decreases after the use of finasteride, and the low level of dihydrotestosterone environment leads to the transformation of androgen-dependent prostate cancer to androgen-independent prostate cancer, which leads to clonal growth of high-grade prostate cancer.[27] Finasteride reduces the production of dihydrotestosterone. In the short run, it reduces the stimulation of hormones to normal tissues and cancer cells, and inhibits the growth of cancer cells to some extent. However, with the prolongation of time, due to long-term low-level dihydrotestosterone stimulation of the original cancer tissue, AR in cancer tissue can be up-regulated and amplified, leading to the occurrence of higher-grade prostate cancer.
As for side effects Shar it looks as if it is similar to hormone therapy because of its mode of action. It usually reduces the PSA by 50% so your friend should keep this in mind if he starts taking it and uses PSA as a monitoring tool.
I hope everything is still going well with your husband Shar and look forward to hearing about the next leg of your travels.
Yes, there are two sides to the coin however when I pleaded with all the medics to put Jacob case forward as part of a study or real life case or statistics, nobody wanted to touch it and they refer me to PAL time and again. I did not want to complain, it was too late. What I wanted is to make a strong warning to other men before start using Fenesteride but nobody listen. ( the medics).
So we just put it behind us and concentrate on the now. I know you are both well and we are well and that is what matter for the now.
Thank you. Rhodes old town is so beautiful and we docked right there. Next cruise over Christmas and New year to the canaries with fireworks in Madeira new year's eve
I have seen the New Year fireworks 3 times in Madeira so hope they are still as good as my memories. Let me know if they still have the firework year change on the mountainside at midnight. Happy cruising.
