87 yr old leuprolide vs degarelix
Hello, I am writing on behalf of my 87 yr old father. I am trying to help him with his decision on how to treat his prostrate cancer that has metastasized to the bone. Right now he has some pain in the bones but otherwise is not too bad. Today we were presented with the treatment options of leuprolide vs degarelix. I am interested in learning the side effects of these. Particularly if anyone experienced nausea and vomiting. My Dad has difficulty swallowing and I very concerned with the prospect of vomiting as a potential side effect.
I guess the rest of my concerns revolve around quality of life. He had a aortic valve replacement about a month ago and his general health deteriorated significantly after that. He went from living independently, still driving and doing all his own errands etc. to needing help just to get around with a walker. He is frail and having trouble with delirium. Is hormone treatment worth it? The doctor made it sound like the side effects would be minimal, but as I read I am questioning if that is true. I honestly don't believe he has a lot of time left and I am trying to focus on making that time the best and most comfortable for him. Thank you for any help you may have to offer.
Hi
. I am sorry to hear of your father's diagnosis and other health difficulties. It is good to see that you are advocating and searching for information on his behalf. I can't personal speak to the two hormone therapies you mentioned, but we have articles giving overviews of each (degarelix: https://prostatecancer.net/treatment/firmagon-reviews-how-well-works-side-effects and leuprolide: https://prostatecancer.net/treatment/lupron-reviews-how-well-works-side-effects). Nausea is not mentioned as a potential side effect in these articles, however, I did a little of supplemental research and found that it can be rare potential side effect of each. For, in this case, your father's protection, we cannot give medical advice over the internet. The experienced side effects can differ quite about for each individual. That said, others hopefully can offer their experiences with androgen deprivation therapy. I also want to call your attention to Xofigo, which is a treatment specifically for metastatic prostate cancer that also helps with bone pain. Your father's doctors should be able to provide additional information. Please know that this community is here for both you and your father. Wishing you the best. Richard (ProstateCancer.net Team) Thank you for your reply Richard. I appreciate the links and will thoroughly read them all. The doctor was very obviously favoring the one, but I want to review all I can before making a decision. Thanks again, the support is appreciated
I can offer you a little feedback on the hormone therapy. I am only 68 and have been on hormone therapy for about 15 months. The idea behind it is to slow or make the cancer dormant so that it doesn't grow anymore. I take a drug called Erleada, which is a brand name for Apalutamide, every day at around the same time. This is a chemo drug to slow or kill cancer cells depending on how bad it is. I also have to get am injection call Lupron, this is to destroy testosterone, which is the main source that the PC feeds from. Lower levels of Testosterone will slow the growth.
The main side affects for me are fatigue, hot flashes, and mild nausea. I only really have cancer pain in one area, and it's not much worse than every other pain I had. My cancer spread to my bones shortly after surgery and my PSA climbed all the way back up to 165 after 15 weeks. The hormone therapy brought it all the way down to .20, but it has climbed in recent weeks to about 1.75, and then dropped back down. My oncologist isn't concerned unless it starts getting over 2.0.
Hope this helps a little, and best of luck.
