Posted 5/28/2017 11:57 AM (GMT -5)
When I was first diagnosed, ZYTIGA and XTANDI had just been approved ... these stand alongside another new milestone treatments, including PROVENGE and XOFIGO.
TAXOTERE chemotherapy was approved for the treatment of prostate cancer in 2004 ... its impact has increased in the past few years, since the "early chemo plan" was endorsed in recent years ...
I remember reading an article that stated that these new treatments represented huge strides forward in the treatment of advanced prostate cancer ... the article called this the "Golden Age of Prostate Cancer Research" and went on to say that there had been decades, filled with frustration, when scientists and researchers were not finding any new breakthroughs that could help patients.
In the 1970s, when I was growing up, my grandfather was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer in the late summer ... I visited him every day ... we had one last Christmas, and he was gone before the winter snows melted away.
Looking back, I realize there were no treatments available or offered to him ... no radiation, no surgery, no hormone shots, no chemotherapy ... I admire his hope, his courage, and determination ... but realize in retrospect, his doctors didn't have anything significant to treat his prostate cancer.
So many of us here have already benefited from the newer breakthrough treatments and medications ... those who haven't, are COMFORTED knowing that there are "things already waiting on the shelf" on the day that they become needed, for their particular case.
I hope that we see some more F.D.A. approvals soon ... just a few more "weapons in the arsenal" could make a huge impact.
Another article I read some time ago stated that with these new treatments and medications, the treatment "landscape" is evolving at a more rapid rate than ever before ...
I found those to be true words ... when I was first diagnosed, I asked my urologist if I could pursue chemotherapy ... he could not approve it at that moment in time ... but shortly thereafter, after clinical trials showed a benefit, I was allowed to "ride the wave" as the new "early chemo plan" was adopted into clinical practice across the country ... since then, several friends of mine have started chemotherapy IMMEDIATELY upon diagnosis ...
In some recent reading, I've noticed that researchers are also going BACK to medications like ZYTIGA and XTANDI and trying to figure out new ways to extenuate their effectiveness ... medications that are already approved and working ... but medications that may be able to have an even GREATER impact, with continued research.
Just think if there comes a day when some of these medications might remain effective for DECADES ... such as insulin for diabetes, for example.
Here's to new breakthroughs !
"Cyclone" ~ Iowa State University