How long does lupron work

National Cancer Institute website. Updated January 10, Accessed February 11, National Institutes of Health Publication No. Signs and symptoms of prostate cancer. American Cancer Society website.

Health and wellness: living with prostate cancer. Prostate Cancer Foundation website. Orange Book product details for NDA US Food and Drug Administration website. You are leaving this AbbVie website and connecting to a site that is not under the control of AbbVie. AbbVie is not responsible for the content of any such site or any further links from such site. AbbVie is providing these links to you only as a convenience, and the inclusion of any link does not imply the endorsement of the linked site by AbbVie.

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By clicking "Yes" below, you certify that you are a licensed healthcare professional. Some men may experience temporary new or worsening symptoms of. Some men may experience. Get the right start to your Lupron treatment. What to expect at the start of treatment. Tips for a better Lupron treatment experience. Keep track of your test scores with this handy chart.

Download the Test Score Tracker. Keep an open dialogue with your doctor. Talking to your doctor. Problems urinating slow or weak stream, need to urinate more often, especially at night Blood in the urine or semen Trouble getting an erection. Pain in the hips, spine, or ribs Weakness or numbness in your legs or feet Loss of bladder or bowel control.

What does "advanced prostate cancer" mean for me? According to the ACS , doctors may recommend hormone therapies, such as Lupron, for:. Doctors often use hormone therapies, such as Lupron, in combination with radiation therapy or other treatments. They may also use it following surgery. The individual can often choose an injection site that is suitable for them. Common injection sites include:. Some typical dosages include :. When a person first starts treatment with Lupron, they may have a testosterone flare.

Later on, they may experience side effects due to having very low testosterone levels in their body. After treatment stops, testosterone levels begin to return to normal. When a person first takes Lupron, their testosterone levels may rise, or flare, before dropping to very low levels. For some people, particularly those with advanced prostate cancer, a testosterone flare can temporarily cause their symptoms to worsen.

To help prevent a testosterone flare, doctors may also prescribe an anti-androgen drug during the first few weeks of treatment with an LHRH agonist. As with any medical treatment, Lupron and other hormone therapies can cause side effects. Many of these side effects are symptoms of having very low testosterone levels.

Possible side effects of hormone therapies, such as Lupron, can include :. A person should discuss any side effects that they are experiencing with their healthcare team. If the side effects are severe, the doctor may recommend changing the dosage or trying a different treatment. There are several treatment options for prostate cancer, including other LHRH agonists and various types of hormone therapy. Other LHRH agonists include :. Lupron is a brand name for leuprolide acetate, a luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone LHRH agonist.

LHRH is a naturally occurring hormone that stimulates the production of testosterone in the testes. Lupron effectively blocks LHRH, so it reduces the amount of testosterone in your body. Lupron is a type of hormone therapy used to treat prostate cancer, which is powered by testosterone.

Male hormones give prostate cancer cells the fuel they need to grow and spread. The goal of hormone treatments, such as Lupron, is to deprive cancer cells of this fuel to slow disease progression. That said, Lupron is not a cure for prostate cancer. Rather, it works to slow down the growth and spread of the cancer. For some men, Lupron initially slows down progression, but then the cancer becomes resistant and stops responding to treatment.

Some cancer cells may also continue to grow, even without an abundance of testosterone. For those reasons, some doctors recommend intermittent therapy. It could be anywhere from a few months to a few years. How this drug will work for you is hard to predict. PSA is a protein produced in the prostate and circulated in the blood.

Periodic blood tests can track rising or falling PSA levels. Learn more: PSA levels and prostate cancer ». Lupron works by tricking the testicles to shut down their production of testosterone. Lupron controls prostate cancer for an average duration of 18 to 24 months in men with metastatic disease. When Lupron stops working, other hormonal agents such as Casodex or Nilandron may provide temporary control, but their duration of effect keeping the PSA down usually lasts for less than a year.

Proving improved survival is a much stiffer challenge than simply showing that medication causes a temporary decline in PSA levels. Zytiga is a designer drug that works by exploiting the relatively recent discovery that resistance to Lupron defined as cancer growth despite zero testosterone in the blood is not a result of the cancer cells having learned to grow without testosterone.

Rather, Lupron resistance is a result of prostate cancer cells having learned how to manufacture their own testosterone internally. Its anticancer effect works by blocking an essential enzyme located inside the cancer cell, an enzyme that is an integral component in the synthetic pathway of testosterone. The net result is that the cancer cell is blocked from manufacturing its own testosterone.

Side effects of Zytiga can include changes in potassium levels in the blood, and in rare cases, liver dysfunction. Zytiga also enhances the action of cholesterol pills like Lipitor and Crestor so their dosage needs to be reduced to compensate. To keep potassium levels in the normal range Zytiga is administered in conjunction with prednisone , a form of cortisone.