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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Prostate Cancer / March 2006

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Quadramet

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abarajas59 - 02 Mar 2006 16:06 GMT
Greetings all,

Does anyone have any experience with Quadramet ( Samarium). I have been
in a debate with a local radiation oncologist regarding its
effectiveness. Understanding that it is used primarily for treating
bone pain, a recent phase II study has shown that when used in
conjuction with chemotherapy (Taxotere) it has shown to reduce PSA
levels by as much as 75%. My Radiation Onco is unwilling to treat me
with Quadramet because I have no bone pain, and my PSA is down to 5.89.
Here is the link to the news release.

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=97538&p=irol-newsArticle_Print&ID=82
2137&highlight
=
Alan Meyer - 02 Mar 2006 22:32 GMT
> Greetings all,
>
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>
> http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=97538&p=irol-newsArticle_Print&ID=82
2137&highlight
=

I have never heard of this.  Why not call the company that
makes it and ask if it's appropriate for someone without bone
mets?

My guess is that they will say no.  When an investigational drug
is approved for clinical trials, it is only approved for specific
applications and may not be used for purposes that the FDA
has not approved.  This sounds like it could be a bad thing, but
it's really a good thing in most cases and protects people against
possibly severe side effects and possible loss of opportunity to
try other treatments, in order to get some unproven benefit.
The fact that the drug lowers PSA in some patients who have
bone mets doesn't at all prove that it will lower PSA in patients
without bone mets.  It might very well be that the drug only attacks
prostate tumor cells that reside in bones.

Your current doctor is probably right in not being willing to use it,
even assuming he can legally do so.

My advice is, don't focus on one therapy and then chase after
a doctor who will give it to you.  There are a lot of conventional
therapies, and a lot of investigational ones.  Do some research
on all of them.

Look for example at the National Cancer Institute's website on
clinical trials (http://cancer.gov) and at (http://clinicaltrials.gov).

Best of luck.

   Alan
abarajas59 - 03 Mar 2006 00:21 GMT
Alan,

I forgot to mention that I do have extensive bone mets and also have
PCa in my Lypmh nodes. My prostate is still intact as the docs see no
need to have it removed.
Alan Meyer - 03 Mar 2006 03:02 GMT
> Alan,
>
> I forgot to mention that I do have extensive bone mets and also have
> PCa in my Lypmh nodes. My prostate is still intact as the docs see no
> need to have it removed.

Well, in that case, maybe you should pursue this.

I suggest that you give the company a call.  Ask them if there
are any trials going on that are still enrolling new patients.  If so,
ask them about how to participate and where you can find the
published results so far.

In some cases, your local doctor might be able to participate
in the trial - administering the medication and performing the
follow up - if he's willing to do it and is accepted by the
researchers.  However, I understand his reluctance to
get involved in a trial of something that he doesn't know
anything about.  I respect a guy who knows his limitations
and tries not to exceed them.  But there might be someplace
else not to far away from you that is participating in a trial.

I'm sorry to hear about the bone mets.  I presume you're
on HT now.  I hope it keeps working for you and that you
are able to benefit from this new drug, or one of the other
new drugs that are in trials.

Good luck.

   Alan
 
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