Zoladex (Goserelin), good or not?

andrew_van

Zoladex (Goserelin), good or not?

andrew_van

Hi everybody,

The oncologist recommends Zoladex (Goserelin) to be injected in her body once a month on the top of Tamoxifen to shutdown the ovaries. He said It reduces significantly the recurrence because she is under 50 years old and ER+.

Considering that she has to go for this injection once a month and the side effects, is it worth it?

We are out of the Country now, do you know if Zoladex covered in Canada?

Thanks

DragonladyTina

Andrew,

I am fairly certain that Zoladex is covered by most insurances and if not, maybe trillium foundation/cancer care ontario will cover it.

Why not an oophorectomy if shutting down the ovaries is the goal? A couple of years ago I was faced with either zoladex injections monthly or total hyst and I chose the latter.

good luck, Tina

andrew_van

Sorry,  I should have explained better.

The oncologist wants to shutdown her ovaries for 3 years only. He can do it with Zoladex. He said it is a good add-on to Tamoxifen.

I was wondering if Zoladex is worth all the trouble because I can not find any studies about it.

Anyone? 

lazeechic

HI I have been taking Zoladex shots for 3 years, but I get them once every 3 months.  It is a little capsule that they inject near you belly button under the skin.  There are little or no side effects with it.

They are fully covered by my insurance from work, but am not sure if they are under other plans.  They have been very effective in my case.  I have mets and have been static and a little better in some areas.

Hope this helps

lazeechic

Dragonfli

HI Andrew,

I came across a web-site on medication coverages in Canada. You can also look at by province.

http://www.drugcoverage.ca/p_cancercover_table.asp

Hope this helps

Hugs

Barb

Curlylocks

Hi Andrew,

I am in Canada and Zoladex is covered by most benefit plans.  The cost of the injection for the 3 month supply is $1262.00 not sure how much the one month injection costs.

Zoladex is effective in chemically shutting down the ovaries and therefore reducing the amount of estrogen in one's body.  If the cancer is estrogen positive this is a good course of action in helping to reduce reoccurances.

There are really little side effects of the injection except for "menopausal symptons" - insomina, hotflashes.  I did find that Zoladex made me fatigued.

I am 44 and had my ovaries removed 2 weeks ago so longer get the injections.

Michele 

andrew_van

Awsome info! Thank you!!

I will check to see if it is covered by my benefits plan. I doesn't look like it is covered presently in British Columbia MSP according to the website.

It looks like that most of you get shot every 3 months.

Some people are talking about monthly injection...is it more efficient?

Is it a painful shot? 

Do any of you take Tamoxifen at the same time? 

Andrew

sonrisa

Hi Andrew,

I will be starting on Zoladex this week, the one-month injections, so I have been following this thread with interest.  I am 40, had surgery one year ago, radiation ended in Sept. and I have not had hormone treatment yet, except for a brief trial of Tamox.  It had depressive side-effects for me so I stopped taking it.  My doctor has now recommended that I try Zoladex.  I went to Google and entered "Zoladex effectiveness" and came up with some studies that concluded that it does help prevent a recurrence.  I know these decisions can be hard to make - so many things to consider.  I wish you and your wife the best. 

Sonrisa

Curlylocks

Andrew,

My injection was a 3 month shot.  I would ask your wife's oncologist which one they recommend.  The 3 month shot worked well for me, it may not for everyone.  

I was put on Armidex as a first line hormonal treatment as recommended by my oncologist due to being highly er/pr+, my age 41 at diagnosis and 3 positive lymph nodes.   Tamoxifen was not even a consideration by my medical team.  It is not to say that Tamoxifen is not a good drug.  It has been around for many, many years.  The AI's have been around not as long and are the newer drugs aimed at preventing reoccurance.  They are not without their side effects though.  For me it is worth to up my odds in preventing a reoccurance.

Again, all the best in your wife's treatment!

Michele 

konakat

Hi Andrew,

I'm getting the shot every month.  From my experience it isn't really painful -- more like someone jabbing you in the guy hard with their finger.  I find the IVs much worse!

My sister in Canada is a doc and she thinks it's a good part of my treatment and I know she wouldn't steer me wrong. 

I wish you and your wife all the best,

Eliza

WendyK

I wouldn't say it's side-effect free. I stopped taking the injections because of the turmoil it left on my body. I was very anxious all the time and emotionally unstable. I was snapping on my three year old for no apparent reason. I'm now just on Tamoxifen. The oncs are really having different opinions on the zoladex anyhow. ONe said it would help, the other two said not really...I made the decision in the end.

Regards

Wendy

kim2005

Has anyone been using zoladex for at least a year and how are you doing on it?  Once you stop using, will your ovaries function again and release small levels of hormones?  Is anyone using zoladex AND zometa together?

lexislove

Hi Kim,

I have been doing Lupron, basically same thing as Zoladex, since June 2008. I'm also doing Zometa since July 2008.. Zometa is 2x year. I just had an infusion in January.

The good thing about zoladex or Lupron is that it IS reversible. I'm doing well on it. I did have some mood swings but now I take a low dosage of Effexor .75mg. to help with "things"

kim2005

Hi Lexis,

 I'm so glad you're doing really well on this combination and it encourages me to get more information from my oncologist.  I hope he is open and receptive to my trying it. 

 I used Lupron years ago for infertility treatments.  I do remember the mood swings    Is there a reason your doctor went with that instead of zoladex?  Are you in a study?

 When you say that it IS reversible, do you mean that once we stop, then our ovaries will start producing small amounts of hormones again?  I would prefer to keep my ovaries and allow them to function again down the road.

 I'm sending my oncologist the study I read about using Zometa and Zoladex together to reduce recurrence by 35%.  That seems significant!  I hope to hear back from him soon.

Thanks for the input!!

lexislove

KIM,

Lupron and Zoladex are the same thing basically. They are antoganists (sp?). the purpose to shut the estrogen production. I think...but don't quote me, Zoladex is given once a month. Lupron is given once every three months. So it's nice to go for my 3 months checks and get my Lupron at the same time. lol

I chose NOT to be in a study becuase I knew I wanted the Zometa. In a study I might have been randomized to something else..like a placebo...eeek! I wanted what has already benn proven effective with studies...Zometa. To me that was my big decision maker.

When I said reversible you are right. Once we stop..the ovaries will return to normal functioning. It seems more is coming out about Zometa...and I think there is another study coming out in March! My onc thinks it will be standard care oneday. It is deffinatly something to take. And Zometa has a long shelf life. So when you stop your infusions you still benefit from the drug, I heard as long as 10 years.

Okeover

Zoladex is good if you have ER positive cancer, are pre-menopausal and are at high risk of recurrence.  That's me! I get it in addition to tamoxifen. Zoladex (or Lupron) gives us the chance to "try on" menopause without committing in the way that an oophorectomy does. Having said that, I'm 39, so I would be looking at up to 10 years of monthly shots, so I will probably get an ooph this summer but at least I know what I'm getting into and I have some control over the timing of the surgery.

lilise

 Hi Kim,

  Could you please share with me the reply you got from your oncologist about Zoladex and Zometa.  I am 33 and have no children yet, so I hate the idea of chemo.  But my onco said that it is not clear what the effects of Zometa might be on fetus development.  He didn't get into this too much and then we jumped to another subject, but I intend to ask him again. 

mocab

Hi Lilise,

 i've been looking for someone who has a similar case as mine and im glad i found you.  i am 32 years old, never had kids but planning to have kids in the future after treatment.  i am on tamoxifen right now and my onco advised me to add zoladex and zometa to my treatment.  did u do these treatments and what are d effects on you?  im just scared the 2 injections are going to affect my reproductive system.  so im still thinkin whether i should do these additional treatment.

hope to hear from u soon!

Thx,

mo

Sweetlander

Hi everyone,

I have been reseraching the efficacy of anti-hormone therapy and haven't found any specific info regarding success rates for ILC, grade 1 - success being long-term survival outcomes. Also, what I have read is that the aromatese inhibitors havent' been around long enough for them to understand the long-term side effects. I have also understood from my reading that some of the side effects are really quite severe. Bone pain, hot flashes, mood swings etc.  Same with the ovarion suppression drug. I guess I'm concerned about the one-size fits all approach that seems to be the order of the day. Further, my Onc has no interest in finding out where I am in my homonal life cycle - I had a hyst three years ago, am 47 and finsihed eight roundds ofchemo in September. So my ONC just wants to throw drugs at me without knowing what my body chemistry is doing. Any thoughts? Thanks!

Dorothy12

Does Zolvadex help when the cancer is progesterone positive? It stops your ovaries working and as ovaries produce progesterone it can help (in my opinion, but actually I am not sure) Can anybody tell me anything sure about it? Does it only help when the cancer is estrogen positive?

cedarlover

Does anyone know how Zoladex works?  My periods stopped and I got hot flashes from chemo, yet my Dr. prescribed Zoladex anyways.  Does it even work when the ovaries are already shut down from chemo?