KH:

Casodex is, indeed, a pill. It acts as an antiandrogen. That means it
blocks the effect of testosterone at the cell level within the body.
It is sometimes used in addition to an LHRH agonist(which stops
production of testosterone) to effect a compete androgen blockade. In
other situations it is used alone, or with a 5 alpha reductase
inhibitor, Proscar and Avodart are trade names for those drugs, and in
this situation will block the ability of circulating testosterone to
bind to cells. This has the effect of choking the prostate cancer
cells from their essential testosterone hormone. Use in this way
allows testosterone to remain in the body and maintain potency,
usually. The side effects are the swelling and tenderness of breast
and nipple tissue. This can be reduced or eliminated by mild radiation
of the breast and nipple area BEFORE treatment with Casodex/5 alpha
drugs. For men who want to fight cancer while maintaing potency, thus
Casodex, alone or with 5 alpha drugs, is an option. It will depend on
the spread of the cancer, the aggressiveness of the cells, the
practice of the oncologist, the wishes of the patient, and wallet
size. I know a man who was on Lupron after radiation for PCa and his
side effects were so umpleasant that he pleaded with his oncologist
for casodex 150 as a monotherapy. It apears to have continued success
and potency has returned.
Casodex is used most commonly in doses of 50 mg and also up to 150. My
pharmacist charges 15$ per pill, 460$ for a 30 day supply of the 50 mg
dose. Without drug insurance coverage this would be a significant cost
to my budget.

Lots of good questions there!  Responses in the body of your message.

Here's another web site that may be helpful.
http://www.prostate-cancer.org/education/sidefx/Strum_ADS.html

In my case, it seems to be effective.  My PSA was on an upward trend.
After being on Casodex for about 4 months, the PSA was greatly
reduced.  My next PSA will be May 1.  I'll post the results here.

It is a small white pill.  I am in an HMO.  I can get only 30 pills at
a time.  The bottle says the "regular" or "full" price of the 30
tablets is $460.  I have to pay $30.  The $460 seems to be pretty much
in line with the advertised prices of the Canadian "discount"
pharmacies.

Potential side effects are numerous.  See the link I provided above.
It does a pretty good job of identifying the side effects and fair job
(at least in my experience) of categorizing them as acute or chronic.

It can be used either alone or with something else.  I'm taking only
Casodex.

This, also, is covered in the site on side effects.

Best wishes to you.

Keep in touch.