psa rising

Hello,

  I have an appt with my surgeon on 5/18.  I had my psa tested, same lab as always on 5/01 (I thought appt was on the 8th).  As one can see it continues to rise ever so slightly.  3 mo 0.11, 6 mo 0.12, 9 mo 0.13.  At 6 months DR said that we need to keep watching but did not want to pursue further treatment unless it reached 0.20.  Even though my psa is rising slowly, it is still rising.  Does psa ever rise like this then stop?

  I do a lot of lurking here and have been trying to find others with my circumstances.  It is amazing how we all have the same disease but each case seems to be different.  I know there are certain proticals which say that any psa 0.1 > post surgery should have follow-up treatment.  Others say that below 0.2 should not have follow-up treatment.  My personal thought is that if it has risen for each psa test it will continue to rise.  Why should I wait until it reaches 0.2?

  What suggestions do others have as to how I should proceed?  I have changed my diet quite a bit since surgery.  I have virtually cut out red meat and have greatly reduced the dairy.  I still love my ice cream and buttered popcorn.  I have also added pomegranite juice on a daily basis.  I have one fear that by changing my diet/pom juice is masking an even greater rise in psa.  Does this make any sense?  If salvage radiation is started what all is involved?  My wife thinks that I will have one treatment.  I told her I was fairly certain that salvage rt involed many treatments.

  As alway I appreciate any and all feedback.

  On another note,  I feel a bit guilty sometimes because I seem to be a net taker than a giver to this forum.  I truly appreciate everyone on this forum. 

Thanks again

Jon

Hi cave88,
about 15 month after my open RP my PSA started to rise and when it reached 0.08, my Onc,, my Uro and myself, decided that it was time for further actions. You can see all this by my signature. If I were you, I would watch my PSA VERY closely and take action as soon as I'm convinced that the cancer is back. It is my understanding that the earlier one takes aggressive action, the better the chance of success.
All the best to you.

Magaboo

CaPCa,
Yes, it seems as though there was some prostatic tissue left behind. There was a positive margin but no extraprostatic extension. The Dr even mentioned that the 3 month psa being 0.11 could be from tissue. My psa is rising but seems very gradual. No jump.
Thanks

Jon...I agree with others...at your age and the doubling time of around 21 months I would look into additional treatments while the remaining cancer is at a low level for the best shot at a cure. The positive margin would indicate that the cancer is probably localized and will benefit from radiation treatment. If you wait until the psa rises above the 0.5 mark, then treatment success will begin to diminish. You have some time to think it over, as right now you will only be at the 0.26 mark in a couple of years based on your doubling time.

Personally, I wouldn't wait that long...but it is your decision. Discuss the pros and cons with salvage treatment with your doctor...there is no such thing as benign treatment when dealing with prostate cancer and you need to be informed.

Best wishes and keep us informed.

Hi Jon,
I am sorry your psa is acting like this! As you can see in my signature our rises were about the same going up 1/100the every 3 months. My surgeon/uro doc said that my doubling time was @ 15 months. With having 3 consecutive rises in as many test he wanted to check on salvage RT and the rad doc agreed. I am to see my uro at the end of this month and will have a psa drawn then. I did go by a health fair a couple of weeks ago and had one drawn and it came back @ 0.0, although it was not an ultra sensitive test I was very pleased to see it at 0.0 as opposed to 0.1 back in September when I had my last test!!!! I believe if you have 3 or 4 consecutive rises you probably have something to check on and the earlier the better for me. I wish you the very best with and will be checking to see your progress. BTW I had 38 treatments with a total of 68GY and it was no trouble at all.

David

Jon,

It may be my ignorance on the terms, but I don't understand how one can have a positive margin yet no extraprostatic extension - maybe someone can clarify this. If you truly have no cancer exposed on the surgical specimen removed, statistically your odds are very good of no recurrence. In other words, aggressive adjuvant treatment should be in part a function of the pathology report, I would think. As others have said, this needs to be monitored carefully. However, if the margin is truly negative, I would hesitate before opting for radiation until the 0.2-0.4 level.

CaPCa

Jon,

No problem at all, you do not emit any radiation.

Ken

CaPCA said...

Jon,

It may be my ignorance on the terms, but I don't understand how one can have a positive margin yet no extraprostatic extension - maybe someone can clarify this. If you truly have no cancer exposed on the surgical specimen removed, statistically your odds are very good of no recurrence. In other words, aggressive adjuvant treatment should be in part a function of the pathology report, I would think. As others have said, this needs to be monitored carefully. However, if the margin is truly negative, I would hesitate before opting for radiation until the 0.2-0.4 level.

CaPCa

CaPCa...a positive margin means that the surgical incision cut across the membrane (capsule) for the prostate leaving some cancerous tissue behind.  It is impossible to determine at the positive margin site whether or not any EPE exists because the capsule or membrane has been compromised.  This does make staging between T2 & T3 difficult if the cross section of the positive margin area is large.

For those reading, a positive margin does not always mean recurrance.  In reality only 30% of those with positive margins will have a recurrance.  Most of the time the remaining cancer cells cannot survive the surgery or the environment without a prostate.   

CaPCA

hi have a look at this link about when surgical margins are positive

http://urology.jhu.edu/newsletter/prostate_cancer410.php

Dear Cave88
I also had a positive margin as a result of my surgery. PSA was low until a year and then it started to rise as you can see by the signature. I opted for IMRT and will start next month. My Rad oncologist recommends adjuvant therapy for all patients with a positive margin as a precaution. Lots of guys here have been through it so you will get plenty of good advice if need be. Good luck and God bless.

Hi Jon,
Good to see you back. That is a very slow climb and radiation will likely knock it out. But you might want to ask if a short stint on HT might help. Some exciting new studies are showing that RT and HT after surgery are offering the best results in these cases. And don't worry about contributing. Just by returning with an update you are helping many. I think most will agree that it's your story that helps most. Thank for being here!

Tony