Your PSA Is Rising During Hormone Therapy

The wide variety of approaches to prostate cancer makes it difficult to find the best treatment path. Obtaining answers to key questions is an important step in learning about prostate cancer, and can help guide the decision-making process.

Below is a list of questions to ask when your PSA is rising during hormone therapy.

• Since my PSA is rising again, do we discontinue the androgen deprivation therapy ("hormone therapy")? Why or why not?
• Are there additional hormone therapy approaches that we should explore?
• Should I get a bone scan to determine if the cancer has spread to my bones? What will the bone scan tell us?
• Are there therapies that might help slow down the disease progression, especially to prevent the spread of the cancer to my bones?
• If there is evidence that the cancer has spread to my bones, how can we treat it, slow down the progression and/or prevent bone pain?
• What are all of the treatment options available to me at this time?
• Is it important to consider the sequencing of treatment options so that we preserve as many options as possible in the future? Are you recommending any treatments that might prevent me from qualifying for a clinical trial in the future?
• Should we consider chemotherapy?
• What other treatment(s) might be appropriate and why?
• What are the side effects of the treatment plan that we have selected?
• Are there dietary changes that I could or should make to optimize my treatment?
• Are there any other specialists that we should or could add to my treatment team to gain an additional perspective on treating my disease?
• Should I consider joining a clinical trial?