first post-op PSA

Hi everyone, my PSA came in at 0.05, Urologist said that the PSA might have not completely got out of my blood, so having another blood test on 24th October, he said I may have to have follow-up radiation, and has made an appointment for me with a radiologist Dr on 31st October.

Was hoping for a 0.01, but you can't have everything can you, with my cancer extending through the prostate I guess maybe some cells have escaped, but the doc says if thats the case the radiation will fix it, so we off to Sydney to see friends for 3 weeks on 7th Oct.....need a break.

Regards Mal.

I guess we are in the same boat. I'll go back for my 2nd PSA in November and the Dr. has already said I'll probably go see a oncologist no matter the results because of the positive path report.

Hi Jim,
I had similar PSA results. I was able to log my histograms quite well as I have had 6 PSA's since March. Three weeks after surgery I was 0.9. Then it dropped out by five weeks. Nothing since. I still had to take an action and started HT in May, IMRT in June to address the positive margins. I am certain by now you have come to terms that you will have to choose what to do next. And by now you know there is no clear choice. Good Luck moving forward. If you need anything from a fellow pT3 patient let us know. God knows there are enough of us here.

Tony

I'm confused, I thought the post surgery psa should be <.1 to be considered normal. Do the docs typically recommend radiation if the psa is 0.05? I hope someone can clarify this for me. Thanks.

A.

I have two cents worth.
There are varying types of PSA Assays. Mine is the Bayer assay and readings are in tenths. There are other assays that provide for a different reading, some of which are a finer test to the hundreths. However when I asked my oncologist about it he said that <0.1 is undetectable. That any tests that give a deeper number are not as accurate because you can have PSA from adrenal glands and thus they can give a false positive. He did say that once PSA begins to rise that he would occasionally use the finer tests to see doubling rates and the effectiveness of treatments as they are administered.

All of that stated, Maldugs has the same numbers nearly as I do. And regardless of the PSA, we are high risk for relapse. RT and HT are considered adjuvant therapies for our stage and disease agressiveness. So I am not surprised by the recommendation for additional treatments. 38 was the count for me with RT and HT is tolerable.

Good Luck Maldugs,
Stay healthy!

Tony