LATEST PSA SHOWS RISE

I'm no expert but I would have thought an increase from 0.04 to 0.05 was negligable and was still a good result.

Hi Louise,

The attached link may help..... Not sure how long ago it was published...

I'm pretty sure there is no cause for concern given the minute increase.... but like you, if my PSA started to rise...even slightly.. I too would be worried..... it's only natural!

Ultra sensitive PSA tests sometimes cause us all to worry unduly I feel...

There can be variation due to all sorts of reasons, but until a reliable upward  trend is established it would be much too early to say? 

Luther


http://urology.jhu.edu/newsletter/prostate_cancer52.php

Hi L
That is a tiny tiny negligible rise. It COULD be indicative of cancer cells growing , but more likely to be a blip at such a very low level. If you took his blood and gave it to 10 hospitals , you could get results varying from 0.03 to 0.07 for example , depending on each machines calibration. I know it can't be easy , but they won't be worried until you've had three results on the rise , and even then some hospitals don't start RT until 0.2 has been reached. And even then there is further chance of full cure. Easy for me to say Louise but I genuinely wouldn't be worried about a 0.01 rise

Louise, you probably have a PSA of around 0.02 even though you don't have a prostate, and if you had just had an orgasm it would rise to about 0.05. Breast milk has a PSA of around the same. The machines are calibrated at least once each year - that could lead to a tiny change in reading. And finally, as CJ says above, these machines apparently have a tolerance range meaning that the same blood sample tested on the same machine at the same time could vary from 0.01 - 0.04. We have actually done it - two samples taken at once and sent for two tests - as far as I can remember the results were something like 0.15 and 0.17

The onco may want to wait a little longer to see if there is another rise to take it over 0.1 - have they said to have a PSA test for the January appointment? if they are concerned, RT seems a sensible offer. At our hospital they have been trialling offering ALL men RT after surgery regardless of pathology or PSA - the reports are that these men are far more likely to get full remission so don't be devastated.

RT hasn't affected John's ED at all so no, it is not automatic. I think ED as a result of RT tends to develop years down the line rather than immediately.

In terms of questions, the only one I can think of is to ask whether it would be HT as well and if not, why not?

Colwickchris- I was referring to you, as I remember your appointment was the day before ours. You are on a similar path to us now then?

Chris j- I have decided that I am no longer doing negative. We have been blessed with a surgeon who is very proactive and on the ball. Yes, they thought our margins are clear, but some obviously escaped. The surgeon has done and MRI and a bone scan and no spread has shown. He therefore thinks that the cells are in the prostate bed.

There's not much point in having ever more sensitive equipment which detects psa at 0.05 if we still call it undetectable. It's not, it's detectable, the figure is 0.05. When my father was first diagnosed we were told the most important value was the doubling time. The first detectable reading was in may, the last in December. That's doubled in 7 months, and certainly indicates failure of the surgery. The surgeon says that as his Gleason was a 5 +4 and as its rising quickly, he sees no benefit in waiting until it reaches 0.2. Surely that just means there are more cells?

Lyn- we were indeed offered RT after the surgery, but, largely because of the positive report from pathology indicating clear surgical margins, but also because of the side effects,we decided not to do this. A mistake in hindsight?

Planning scan is next Tuesday.