Posted this on the other site but feel that it is so important and a lot of ladies may not know this. Zoladex injections are only licensed in the UK to be given every 28 days NOT once every 3 months. I have copied the following information from Astra Zeneca website, these are the makers of Zoladex, so as said before it comes directly from the horse’s mouth so to speak.
Zoladex is available as a 28-day depot and a long-acting 3-month depot. It is administered using Zoladex SafeSystem, which is a unique patented delivery system designed to protect healthcare professionals from the risk of needle-stick injury. Both depots are used for the treatment of prostate cancer, endometriosis and uterine fibroids but only the 28-day depot is approved for breast cancer, endometrial thinning and assisted reproduction.
Some GPs advocate the 3 month injection without realising the potential harm they are doing to their patients. Apparently, as I understand it, if you are strongly E+ the 3 month inj. may not last the whole time so therefore your ovaries can make oestrogen which then can feed the cancer. If you think about it too, a woman’s cycle is normally around the 28 day mark which is another reason why Zoladex is given monthly to fit in with what’s meant to be.
thank you for this.
I have had 3 months lasing implants of Zoladex so far. I did ask my oncologist why I was not on the monthly one because I was worried about fluctuating estrogens (and I did not know about the off licence use like I do now) and his reply was that that might be a bit but the tamoxifen (or an arimidex) will balance that out. He also thought that the side effects would still be less then the of having the injection done monthly. (I think he meant bleeding bruising on the injection site and a more regulair trip to the doctors)
I think I might chalange my doctor again about this.
I am not so sure though if the monthly one would have less side effects then the 3 monthly one, just because it has not been licenced.
Thanks for this post - my GP has just asked me if I would consider changing to 3 monthly. I told him i would check with my Onc. she is very particular about the treatment she perscribes.
I think the GP is so busy he wants to reduce visits if possible. Well I shall stick to monthly - I can’t see my Onc agreeing to the change, she is pretty on the ball.
Thanks again - goodluck with your on going treatment - Swanie
Absolutely agree! I have Prostap instead of Zoladex (it works like Zoladex) and after a couple of 3 monthly injections I had to go back to every 4 weeks.
x
Hi belinda,
I was just wondering why you had to go back to monthly one? (maybe the same can then apply for me to make my argument stronger for wanting a monthly one?
Hi dutchy, every 4 weeks I have my bloods (tumour markers) taken as I have bone mets. My markers were beginning to rise slightly towards the end of the 3 months. When I went back to 4 weekly jabs my markers went right back down again. The markers register any cancer activity, the higher the reading the more activity.
meant to add I’m on hormonal treatment, had Arimidex for 2 and a half years and I’m now on Aromasin so I have to be in a ‘proper’ chemically induced menopause for the treatments to work.
Check with your own consultant oncologists by all means, but just thought I’d mention that I’ve been on the 3-month Zoladex injection for some while, under the care of a couple of different people one of whom was the guy in charge of the breast cancer team at the Royal Marsden, and therefore one of the leading specialists in the country.