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Posted 3/8/2013 5:21 PM (GMT -5)
I was watching Fox news this morning and they ran an ad for Provenge and it's success with advanced PC. I though it was a great ad and was proud to know several guys like Todd who had success with the treatment. Of course 2/3 of the ad was all the disclaimers about possible side effects. skull
Posted 3/8/2013 5:50 PM (GMT -5)
I need to find out about that. Is it a one a day tablet like Zytiga. I've heard good about both and that they're letting you skip chemo and go straight to it with high success rates . . . does that sound right? A friend was made to go through the chemo route, lost his hair, and then I told him what I knew about Zytiga and he's now stabilized where as before his PCa was real aggressive. Looks like it's research time for me now . . . Q
Posted 3/8/2013 6:00 PM (GMT -5)
actually quincy its extensive stuff.....they basically draw out your blood and treat or add things to your blood to help fight the cancer cells...then they inject it back into your system. Whole thing costs around 90,000 dollars from what I read here. I understand the average success rate is 4 months more survivability.
Posted 3/8/2013 6:26 PM (GMT -5)
quincy. provenge is a cancer vaccine. It is administered over a 6 week period. Theee times they skim off a few billion white cells. 50 billion to be exact. They ship them to a lab where there are bound to a protein that acrivates them to attack the cancer. They are infused three days later. cool stuff
Posted 3/8/2013 6:35 PM (GMT -5)
Yeah Todd....and I just watched those 2 videos of you...for some reason it wouldn't load last night. very inspirational stuff and well done....hope the provenge keeps doing its miracles on you, chris
Posted 3/8/2013 6:55 PM (GMT -5)
Thanks for that usefull info Casper. I think that I'll continue to hope that my ht stays durably stable . . . Q
Posted 3/8/2013 6:58 PM (GMT -5)
Yeah no doubt quincy...although Todd described it much better than I. I hope the radiation did the trick as well because I don't want to be on HT forever either.
Posted 3/8/2013 7:29 PM (GMT -5)
I thInk that we are all going to see a true "cure" for PCa, whether its a retroactive virus or a tailor made DNA type which is on the horizon. Our posts criss crossed the time zones Todd, thanks for your info as well . . . Q

PS: Casper, as a fellow g9, I want to tell you that the SEs of HT slowly dim to background noise. My wife and I are sitting here planning a fun Saturday's delight. everything gets better with time.
Posted 3/8/2013 8:02 PM (GMT -5)
good to hear quincy...Id like to have that desire back. That's what Im sure we all miss the most. Still able to have good sex but its just not the same. Everything seems planned now instead of being spontaneous...I guess I miss that the most.
Posted 3/8/2013 9:35 PM (GMT -5)
Provenge TV ad.....The drug companies spend more money on marketing then they do on research....
Posted 3/8/2013 10:17 PM (GMT -5)
Casper, without getting too personal, we were kinda into planning our tysts pre PCa so this isn't new ground for us. Hotel rooms are the best, lol. But I really do miss those spontaneous moments too. Just the whole thing that goes with a flatlined T level drags at me, the constant fatigue and depression have given me hypersomnia.

I am currently seeing a sleep therapist that is working on this, he says that I'm not getting enough oxygen during sleep because of CNS depressed diaphragm due to opioid analgesics. I have one more session sleeping with electrodes all over me and then he'll be able to pin it down. Have you ever heard of C-Apnea? It's new to me but sounds logical. .If that helps with the fatigue and anemia caused by HT, my bros here on HW will hear about it toot sweet . . . Q
Posted 3/8/2013 10:18 PM (GMT -5)
not sure why a drug company would need to "tv" advertise such an advanced drug that only for a small pool of potential users. it's not like advertising for a competitive drug such as Viagra and others.
Posted 3/8/2013 10:30 PM (GMT -5)
That's a real good point. Maybe they needed to use up some of that big money They're getting for a four month added life span. I wish they would put it into R&D instead as the individualized approach looks very promising don't you think?
Posted 3/8/2013 10:55 PM (GMT -5)
Okay, I am a provenge guy. I believe in it. Provenge has a history. Thers were many out there who tried to kill it. When Provenge was up for fda approval the first time it was denied even though an overwhelming majority of the reviewing panel voted to approve. The approval of provenge was delayed 3 years. Even after its approval people are trying to kill it. Google Marie hubor. All I know is that hormones failed. My Psa was rising. I felt sick. My psa was over 100. After my infusions of Provenge I took casodex to lower my psa and guess what.....it stayed low. I feel good. Zero side effects. Dendreon is forced to run an aggressive ad campaign because Doctors still refuse to prescrribe it and insurance still balks at paying for it. Patients need to demand that they be allowed to try this treatment but if doctors are not telling their patients about it then who will. I am 81 months post diagnosis stage 4 prostate cancer. To date my only therapy has beeen h/t and provenge. not too bad for a guy who was suppose to be dead 6 years ago. The trial showed a 4.1 month median life extension . about the same as chemo but with minimal side effects. Many men went into.long term remission. I believe the.number is.17%. just saying..... Todd
Posted 3/8/2013 11:08 PM (GMT -5)
Excellent rebuttal, Todd. Of course I've already become accustomed to your fine style. That does make sense though, and the 4month number had me questioning from the first time I heard of Provenge.

Myself, I'm Rxed Fentora at $11,500 a month for an analgesic that works for me and my liver (Hep-C). Keep writing the good stuff my friend.
Posted 3/8/2013 11:24 PM (GMT -5)
good point todd
Posted 3/9/2013 6:36 AM (GMT -5)
Todd now we see why you are the spokesman for Provenge as you can state the facts from personal experience. If the average life extension is 4 months that means a lot of men like you are in longer term remission and some got no benefit. This is true for almost any PC or other cancer treatments, some treated will go into remission and some will not be helped as much or not at all. This is the reason why there are so many different PC treatments available as no one of them is yet the silver bullet that will kill this dam beast.  Look at our HW members, we have guys who have done better than others with new  drugs like Zytiga and guys who have gone into remission with new chemo drugs.
Posted 3/9/2013 9:21 AM (GMT -5)
It is wrong to say "the average success rate is 4 months more survivability." I t is "MEDIAN".

PROVENGE has NCCN category 1 recommendation before CHEMO; the highest only drug in this setting;

ZYTIGA has NCCN category 2A recommendation before CHEMO;

XTANDI has NCCN category 2A recommendation before CHEMO.

PROVENGE is only drug who reach OS ( overall survival ) in its trial III ( all 3 of them, ZYTIGA didn't reach, no yet result for XTANDI). OS- gold standard for trials now in advanced prostate cancer.

Who interesting more in this drug and want educate himself more about Provenge can read Healing Well thread " PROVENGE":

www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=35&m=2487796&p=5

From " Building on Sipuleucel-T for Immunologic Treatment of Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer":

"For the IMPACT ( PROVENGE trial III) trial 64% of control subjects (n = 109) crossed over to receive APC8015F( Frozen Provenge and any patient in PLACEBO group could receive it when decease progress) . The median OS for control subjects who crossed over compared with those who did not was

23.8 MONTHS vs 11.6 MONTHS months.

Of note, subjects who received APC8015F had more favorable prognostic features than did those not receiving APC8015F. Subsequent analyses adjusting for prognostic factors around the time of disease progression still revealed a positive treatment effect for APC8015F.

THUS,IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THE TRUE MAGNITUDE OF OS DIFFERENCE WAS UNDERESTIMATED IN THE PRIMARY ANALYSIS OF THE PHASE III TRIAL RESULTS."

www.moffitt.org/research--clinical-trials/cancer-control-journal/from-bench-to-bedside-bringing-immunotherapy-into-the-clinic

It is good that company has national TV ads. Why?:

From interview with Dr. Kapoor who is President of the Large Urology Group Practice Association:

"...there's a variety of misinformation-in some cases, disinformation-out there about the treatment that we occasionally have to address. For example, from time to time we get resistance from a patient when we suggest Provenge, even from someone we believe would benefit from the treatment. It may because of something negative he read on the Internet or heard by word-of-mouth...
First, and surprisingly, we have had patients reluctant to start on Provenge because of cost issues, even some men with very solid coverage. I think that goes back to the issues about patient education and overcoming misinformation that we touched on before, as we don't see patients with other cancers ever really inquire about the cost of therapy...
However, I will say that in our practice, we consider Provenge to be the foundation of care when it comes to the treatment of asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic metastatic castrate resistant prostate cancer [CRPC]. Since the use of steroids is a contraindication to Provenge, we would generally sequence Zytiga in behind Provenge, if its use was indicated based on a specific patient's condition."


I
Posted 3/9/2013 11:25 AM (GMT -5)
And yet

Vast majority Doctors do not prescribe it

Vast majority Insurance companies do not cover it
Posted 3/9/2013 11:56 AM (GMT -5)
HopenEVERDIE is correct regarding what Dr. Kapoor said. Urologists are reluctant to prescribe off-label. That's the reason Dr. Kapoor, whose practice sees 20% of the patients in the greater NY City-Long Island area, would prescribe Zytiga (after Provenge)...and will NOT prescribe Xtandi pre-chemo...even though his practice is participating in Medivation's pivotal Phase 3 pre-chemo trial of Xtandi.

In the pivotal Phase 3 trial of Zytiga that was unblinded early (last year), the drug only achieved stat sig on one of two endpoints: progression free survival (PFS). It failed to achieve stat sig on the second endpoint, overall survival (OS). In fact, the Kaplan-Meier (K-M) curves did not separate until Month 18, 4 months AFTER patients in the treatment arm came were taken off the drug. The Kaplan-Meier curves for Provenge separate after 6 months. (That is, Provenge started showing an overall survival benefit after 6 months.)

There a many ways to look at the possibility Provenge might be able to help a patient. Yes, Provenge does show a 4.1 month MEDIAN life extension benefit in men with asymptomatic or minimally sympotomatic cast-resistant prostate cancer. But it's also important to note that 3 years after receiving Provenge, there's a 38% improvement in survival in patiants that have received Provenge comopared to those patients in the controlled arm (32% of patients in the Provenge are are alive vs. 23 % in the controlled arm). So, the treatment is durable.

it's also interesting to note that two post hoc analyses that removed the effects of crossovers (that is, patients in the pivotal studies who crossed over from the placebo cohorts and received a frozen form of Provenge (Frovenge)) found that a 'better' estimate of the true median life extension benefit from Provenge lies in the range 7.8 to 12.7 months.

And finally, we have the so-called 'quartile study' perform by Dendreon. This post hoc study demonstrated, among other things, that if your PSA is 22.1 or less, your median overall survival after receiving Provenge is 13 months.

These are facts. They substantiated by the data obtained in three pivotal trials used to secure FDA approval.

Is Provenge right for you? That's between you and your doctor. Obviously, Todd is doing well on the treatment.

Sun

Posted 3/9/2013 11:57 AM (GMT -5)
Medicare and all insurance companies reimburse doctors for Provenge. Reimbursement times to doctors are under 30 days, with many receiving payment in 14 days. Fact. Source: Dendreon Corporation.
Posted 3/13/2013 12:10 PM (GMT -5)
Raddad said : "And yet Vast majority Doctors do not prescribe it Vast majority Insurance companies do not cover it"

This TV ads is about speaking up & fighting for those 30000 men that died from mCRPC and didn't have access to Provenge in the following years:

2007 when that corrupted FDA rejected Provenge after a panel voted overwhelmingly in favor;

2008- 2009 company that could ill-afford to finance and conduct new trial III go ahead with trial ;

2010 when Medicare slammed a CMS process and doctors became fearful of the reimbursement envroment and when company only treated 494 patients and 29,506 newly diagnosed and 60,000 living with mCRPC didn't have access to Provenge;

2011 company only treated 2322 patients and 27,678 newly diagnosed and 60,000 living w/ mCRPC didn't have access to Provenge;

2012 company only treated 3494 patients and 26506 newly diagnosed and 60,000 didn't have access to Provenge.

Where was PCF and other charities in that time and whose interests their represent ?

But was little "Care To Live " who fought with FDA and brought law suits that went nowhere but shed some light where the FDA did not want it.
Without Care To Live and Who knows? Would Provenge have perished?

Bravo " Care TO Live" for a difficult job well done! Provenge gained recognition and then an actual FDA approval.

caretolive.com/


Almost 3 years ago, Provenge was FDA approved (almost certainly against Drs. Pazdur's, Hussain's, Sherr's wills and untill now they continue ignore this treatment). Pazdur, the arrogant bureaucrat (who once correctly claimed "I am the FDA!") formed an obstructionist alliance (literally in written agreements) with CMS Medicare reimbursement people then headed by the Berwick (who since has moved on)—to scare off doctor usage of Provenge for a full year while CMS threatened not to pay for Provenge reimbursement requests from doctors and insurances gladly allowed that path.
But CMS was firmly mandated by law to pay for FDA -Approved new products aimed at previously unmet needs--which Provenge certainly was and is.

So when a desperate patient looks his Urologist in the eye ( after failing hormonal therapy) and says to himself, in effect, "Don't just stand there Doctor, DO something!" then that Doctor has choices that include both pills and Provenge Immunotherapy. Pills are likely to win out at that point. Pills are easier. Pills cannot easily be questioned by patients as to their advisability. You can continue on them even your PSA rise and valuable time for best response for Provenge pass but only Provenge has OS in prechemo space and highest NCCN category 1 recommendation prechemo.

So this TV add clear shows that any patient receiving Provenge will physically deal more effectively with his disease by having a stronger ramped-up Immune System focused on Prostate Cancer cancer-specific cells. That focus will add to the patient's life and strength. It will prolong the patient's sense of well-being and physical capabilities. And his family needs him around long time to enjoy life together.

A Patient's demand should be made with an answer already in mind. He should be thinking: "Don't just stand there Doctor, get me Provenge ."

And now I would say BIG THANK YOU TO JOEL T. NOWAK- (Malecare’s Director of Advocacy and Advanced Prostate Cancer Programs) WHO CONTINUES TO EDUCATE MEN AND THEIR FAMILY about THIS REVOLUTIONARY AND LIFE CHANGED TREATMENT.

He posted 3 videos recently:

Mar 09 2013
Provenge – What Is It, What Does It Do & What Is It’s Cost;

Mar 10 2013
Provenge -Who Qualifies, What is the Process and What to Expect;

Mar 12 2013
A Survival Advantage – Is It Worth It?

advancedprostatecancer.net/

Post Edited (HOPENEVERDIE) : 3/13/2013 11:20:56 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 3/16/2013 2:52 PM (GMT -5)
I finished Provenge prostate cancer immunotherapy produced by Dendreon Corp. on Oct. 12, 2012 and the results in my case have been nebulous and inconclusive sofar.
A bone scan three weeks after completing Provenge Tx showed a tremendous increase in metastatic bone disease. A cat scan also confirmed the huge increase in metastatic involvment.
PSA rose to 55 on Nov. 12, 2012 from 7 at the start of Provenge Tx. Alkaline Phosphotate increased from 220 to 2400. Prior to Provenge Tx the sequential increases in PSA and Alk Phos were far lower.
I am aware that Provenge Tx does not result in an immediate lowering of PSA however the rapid doubling time of bio markers in my instance appears to be caused by something other than normal disease progression. It appears that Provenge may in fact be accelerating the growth of my prostate cancer.
My Oncologist initially thought maybe the huge increase in mets and PSA was an auto immune system response but I consulted with a world renowned prostate oncologist at the Univ.-of-Mich hospital and he said this was highly unlikely and recommended I start Taxotere chemo Tx ASAP. My Oncologist at St. John Hospital in Detroit, MI informed me today that he has another patient with very similar results and indicated that it appears that Provenge is accelerating the PCa growth in this patient also. He said he has started Taxotere chemo Tx on this Pt. In Feb. 2013 My Oncologist informed me that he has had three patients complete Provenge Tx during 2012 and he has not seen any positive results to date.
My Provenge infusion product was produced at the Dendreon Corp., New Jersey facility which was scheduled to close and I wonder if quality control became an issue at this facility after the announcement that it would be closed and 41% of Dendreon staff terminated per news articles on July 31, 2012.
I believe that this product, Provenge, should be revaluated and that real time data accumulated from recent patient histories be used in determining the efficacy and safety of Provenge.
My use of Provenge delayed my getting other definative therapy for over three months which can be very critical and life threatening in delaying the progression of prostate cancer.
I am fully aware that no single cancer therapy will give similar results in very patient, however the extremely high cost of Provenge Tx ($93,000.00) would seem to make it imperative to have some bio marker that will provide an indication of which patients this product may benefit.
I am currently on Zytiga with excellent results over the past three months. PSA has dropped from 55 to 4.5 and Alk Phos from a high of over 4,000 to 1098.
The new BLITZ advertising campaign by Dendreon is highly concerning to me in view of my own results. mad
Posted 3/16/2013 8:26 PM (GMT -5)
I have vented on long time forum members when I should not have. I ripped a new member a new one and felt like a jerk afterward. I have been on the wrong side of many an argument in my time. All of that said...... I am going to yell

WHEN A GUY WHO JOINED THE FORUM BACK IN NOVEMBER HAS ONLY POSTED THREE TIMES AND EVERY TIME HAS BEEN TO TRASH A CANCER TREATMENT, WHEN THE SAME GUY HAS NO EMAIL NO OCCUPATION NO INFORMATION AT ALL..... i SMELL A RAT!!!!

Look I know that not every treatment works for everyone. We lost Craig just a few weeks back and provenge didn't help him at all. Nothing else worked either though. I am flat tired of drug reps and self serving folks using this forum to tout the pro's and the con's of whatever side of whatever treatment from whatever company is paying their wages. People on this forum are sick. Men are trying to make treatment decisions and having people post misinformation is abominable.
Posted 3/16/2013 8:39 PM (GMT -5)
Todd I was thinking the same thing, and all 3 posts have been very similar in wording and content.    Walks like a rat smells like a rat it must be a rat.

Post Edited (Water Guy) : 3/16/2013 7:51:18 PM (GMT-6)

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