Hi-Risk/Recurrent/Advanced PrCa Video Chat, Oct. 5, 2026
Substack is coming to AnCan… or maybe AnCan is coming to Substack. We’ll be posting the best from our Reminders and Blog Posts. Coming soon – we’re working on it!!
NEW AnCan HEART Group for all things cardio. Sign up for Reminder at https://ancan.org/contact-us/. Next meeting Oct 7 in AnCan Schmier Room. For ProsCard mailing list, please write to dr.john@ancan.org to ad to the distribution and Dr. John’s weekly heart primer.
AnCan thanks the following sponsors for making this recording possible: Novartis, Telix and Blue Earth Diagnostics.
Views expressed in this Recording are solely the opinion of AnCan Foundation, our Moderators and Participants.
AnCan does not accept sponsored promotion. Any drugs, protocols or devices discussed are based solely on anecdotal peer experience or clinical evidence.
AnCan cannot and does not provide medical advice. We encourage you to discuss anything you hear in our sessions with your own medical team.
AnCan reminds all Participants that Adverse Events experienced from prescribed drugs or protocols should be reported to the pharmaceutical manufacturer or the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS). To do so call 1-800-332-1066 or download interactive FDA Form 3500 https://www.fda.gov/media/76299/download
All AnCan’s groups are free and drop-in … join us in person sometime! You can find out more about our 12 monthly prostate cancer meetings at https://ancan.org/prostate-cancer/ Sign up to receive a weekly Reminder/Newsletter for this Group or others at https://ancan.org/contact-us/
Join our other free and drop in groups:
Men (Only) Speaking Freely…1st & 3rd Thursdays @ 8.00 pm Eastern https://ancan.org/men-speaking-freely/
Veterans Healthcare Navigation… 1st & 3rd Tuesdays @ 8.00 pm Eastern Schmier Room https://ancan.org/veterans/
Veterans Speaking freely… 4th Tuesday @ @ 8.00 pm Eastern Schmier Room
Editor’s Pick: wot a choice this week … trials – ANDROMEDA, VIR5500 & Veozah; everyone wants scarce E2; and switch foreign drugs by 10/22!
Topics Discussed
Newbie Calgarian supported by 1.5 AnCan Calgarians; 2nd recurrence raises questions for Newbie; E2 scarcity; switch foreign online pharmacy by Oct. 22; ANDROMEDA triallist encourages others to sign up – inc. Newbies; borderline anemia delays salvage RT – but so does switching insurance; Veozah/fezolinetant trial open in Greater Boston; T and PSA rise during IHT – ANDROMEDA??; ARSI switch may be in order; does rationing Pluvicto sessions do the trick?; VIR5500 trialist experiences fatigue; Frank recovering and may be fit enough to consider a trial; GU MO orders confirmatory bone Bx before starting doublet; E2 preferred if HT resumes – or ANDROMEDA?; ; started Pluvicto – waiting on bone Bx result; ask for the PSMA SUV
Chat
Bruce Schrimpf sent: 5:12 PM
Army: Do not volunteer unless you can type. There is a story there! BDS
Danny Lankford (Minnesota) sent: 5:52 PM
I just started the e2 patch after months of wearing my GU oncologist down with evidence . 😉
john sent: 5:58 PM
At DEXA T=-1.3 you have osteopenia, and are at risk for further bone loss due to hormone therapy. Suggest Calcium 500mg twice daily (w/food if carbonate) and Vitamin D perhaps 800 IU/d. Discuss w/your PCP for a decision and doses. Weight bearing exercises. Repeat DEXA every 2y or according to your doctors. Consider E2 estradiol rather than an LHRH agonist; let’s ask Dr Paul in the room. I’m not sure at what point an endocrinologist is needed, but a bone strengthener needed because you also have a bone met.
I have tried to register for virtual prostate cancer conference at OHSU on October 17. I am provided a registration ID code, but not provided a link to access conference. What am I missing?
rick davis sent: 6:12 PM
Dr. Bill – I expect they’ll send a link closer to the conference
The coronavirus outbreak has many patients worrying about whether they will be able to continue receiving their medications. The FDA is actively working on ensuring that this doesn’t happen and while they have already made some progress, they will continue to take additional measures. You can read the latest FDA Supply Chain Update in its entirety here.
The information below represents the more salient points of that update, IMO:
Since January 24, the FDA has been in touch with more than 180 manufacturers of human drugs, not only to remind them of applicable legal requirements for notifying the FDA of any anticipated supply disruptions, but also asking them to evaluate their entire supply chain, including active pharmaceutical ingredients (the main ingredient in the drug and part that produces the intended effects, e.g., acetaminophen) and other components manufactured in China.
Also, as part of our efforts, the FDA has identified about 20 other drugs, which solely source their active pharmaceutical ingredients or finished drug products from China. We have been in contact with those firms to assess whether they face any drug shortage risks due to the outbreak. None of these firms have reported any shortage to date. Also, these drugs are considered non-critical drugs.
The FDA is using all our existing authorities to address COVID-19, and we welcome the opportunity to work with Congress to further strengthen our response capabilities and emergency preparedness. There are four specific proposals included in the President’s budget that would better equip the FDA to prevent or mitigate medical product shortages.
Lengthen Expiration Dates to Mitigate Critical Human Drug Shortages: Shortages of certain critical drugs can be exacerbated when drugs must be discarded because they exceed a labeled shelf-life due to unnecessarily short expiration dates. By expanding the FDA’s authority to require, when likely to help prevent or mitigate a shortage, that an applicant evaluate, submit studies to the FDA, and label a product with the longest possible expiration date that the FDA agrees is scientifically justified, there could be more supply available to alleviate the drug shortage or the severity of a shortage.
Improve Critical Infrastructure by Requiring Risk Management Plans: Enabling the FDA to require application holders of certain drugs to conduct periodic risk assessments to identify the vulnerabilities in their manufacturing supply chain (inclusive of contract manufacturing facilities), and develop plans to mitigate the risks associated with the identified vulnerabilities would enable the FDA to strengthen the supply chain by integrating contingencies for emergency situations. Currently, many medical product manufacturers lack plans to assess and address vulnerabilities in their manufacturing supply chain, putting them, and American patients, at risk for drug supply disruptions following disasters (e.g., hurricanes) or in other circumstances.
Improve Critical Infrastructure through Improved Data Sharing and Require More Accurate Supply Chain Information: Empowering the FDA to require information to assess critical infrastructure, as well as manufacturing quality and capacity, would facilitate more accurate and timely supply chain monitoring and improve our ability to recognize shortage signals.
Establish Reporting Requirements for Device Manufacturers: The FDA does not have the same authorities for medical device shortages as it does for drugs and biological products. Among other things, the FDA proposes to require that firms notify the agency of an anticipated meaningful interruption in the supply of an essential device; require all manufacturers of devices determined to be essential to periodically provide the FDA with information about the manufacturing capacity of the essential devices they manufacture
Editor’s Highlight …… Are generic drugs like ‘flying in a Boeing 737 Max?’
Medicare’s positive Next Generation Sequencing revisions; successful oligimetastatic treatment; testostrone recovery after hormone therapy; furore around generic drug manufaturing; Lupron shortage; successful self-advocating; how long do you stay in adjuvant hormone therapy?; positive experiences with Dr. Antonarakis @ Johns Hopkins
For a copy of the Chat URL’s and information, please go to our PCa Forum (click top right). And feel free to post there yourselves on any PCa related topic.
MedPage Today Editor in Chief, Dr. Marty Makary, interviewed investigative journalist, Katherine Eban, about her recently published book, Bottle of Lies: The Inside Story of the Generic Drug Boom. For those of you who listen to our weekly videoconferences for Advanced Prostate Cancer, you will probably recall that I have expressed faith that generic drugs that have been FDA-approved as “safe and effective” are just that – safe and effective. But after having listened to this interview (Is that a Centipede I See in My Capsule??), my faith has been shaken to its foundation.
In the years since I retired from the pharma industry as a research pharmacologist, many things have changed. Like many other manufacturing operations, the generic drug industry has mostly moved offshore, mainly to India and China, and the FDA’s oversight capabilities have been seriously diminished, according to author, Katherine Eban. I have not yet read the book, but the 32 minute podcast referenced above is something you need to hear. But be forewarned, this is shocking and deeply disturbing. But there are steps you can take to ensure your generic drugs are truly safe and effective. Whenever possible, insist that your pharmacist uses generic drugs manufactured in the U.S., Canada or Europe.
Great follow up article from Marty Makary MD on Valisure, a pharmacy that tests ingedients before it uses them. (rd 3/11/20)
