Checking free testosterone may be a better guide to how well hormone therapy is working than total testosterone.

[JimJimJimJim]

Jim Marshall (not a doctor) said ...

Checking free testosterone may be a better guide to how well hormone therapy is working than total testosterone.

When prostate cancer becomes castrate resistant, that signals a new type of treatment.

So it is important to be sure that the rising PSA is due to castrate resistance, and not due to the presence of testosterone because the hormone treatment is not strong enough (as it is for a small percentage of men).

 

 

So, doctors (though not all) check testosterone as well as PSA to be sure.

 

This paper points out that it is possibly better to check free testosterone than total testosterone to make sure the hormone treatment is working.

 

Most of the testosterone in the blood is bound to a protein called sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG). Testosterone that is not bound to SHBG is called "free testosterone".

 

Note that this is guidance for the future research only. There are no currently no guidelines for appropriate levels of free testosterone to ensure hormone therapy is working.

... end Jim

This abstract is only available for 24 hours for members to get an email.

After 24 hours the abstract will only be available through the link to the ASCO site below.

 

The free hormone hypothesis: Correlation of decreases in PSA with free testosterone rather than total testosterone in men with advanced prostate cancer treated with GTx-758.

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Source URL: http://meetinglibrary.asco.org/content/117793-132