Recurrence?

Hello Davee

I can't be of much help with your question but I'm sure that others will advise you.

You say you have no infection that you know of but is that based on how you feel as I assume that the GP has checked you for infection

Has your GP referred you back to the hospital?

Hi Davee,

As others have pointed out, one test alone doesn't prove anything, I guess further tests/scans etc may be needed.

I see like me you had radiotherapy some years ago, I guess you were told at the time that you could only ever have one bout of radiotherapy.  If it worked it worked, if not then it was hormone therapy for the rest of your life?

That has changed, if you check my profile there are all the details of salvage HDR brachytherapy.  'Fingers crossed' it is working for me, and even if it is not it is buying me a lot of time with my PSA bumping along at currently a mere 0.5

So hopefully you don't have a reoccurrence, but if you do please be aware that science has moved on and new treatments are available.

:)

Dave

Hello yes urine tests were neg. Referred to local hospital in next 2 weeks.

That's interesting Andrew. I have having Allopurinol for gout at 300mg rather than earlier 100mg daily for long before being diagnosed with PCa, so haven't checked the info literature that comes with it which presumably mentions this. Although my treating consultants should have been aware of this from my records, none of them mentioned it as a potential source for increasing PSA.

Davee, RT doesn't destroy the prostate, so you should still have a positive reading, close to normal, say 4 I reckon the advice you have been given is sound, subject to resolving the issue about your medication.

AC

Bill, Daveee had radical RT - radical simply means that it was the primary treatment.

Davee, your prostate will have recovered somewhat and the healthy prostate cells will be generating PSA. The level has gone high enough to be concerned but you can't have any more RT so what would you want the doctors to offer you as a treatment? Hormone therapy would be long term now and does not last forever so perhaps the MDT are trying to delay starting HT for as long as they can? Have they said how high your PSA needs to go before they put you back on treatment?

Sep 2017 4.76

Oct 2017 4.37

Jan 2018 5.35

Apr 2018 5.90

July 2018 5.99

Oct 2018 7.28

Jan 2019 5.75

Apr 2019 6.31

Jul 2019 7.14

Oct 2019 7.24

Jan 2020 6.93

Jul 2020 7,53

Oct2020 6.26

Jan2021 7.13

This was a tough decision. I declined the offer! My reasons were -1) My CT scan was clear, 2) I feel great and am very active with no aches or pains and did not want to suffer the side effects of treatment until I have to!

I had another PSA blood test 3 weeks ago and my reading had gone down over 25% to 9.1!

(This coincided with me mirroring a successful trial involving Oxford University a few years ago where 68% of 100 men saw a reduction in their PSA readings. I simply took pomegranate, green tea, broccoli and turmeric capsules each day during the 3 months).

I really dont understand what is happening or if I made the right decision, I would like your opinions.

A 25% PSA reduction seems unusual if it's cancer..

If the radiotherapy did its job, he shouldn't have a prostate. He would have had (in the words of one expert) 'mush', long since largely reabsorbed, the space occupied by the gentle shifting of other organs.

Radiotherapy sure ain't surgery, but if done right, the effects are much the same.

(I certainly hope so, having had it myself!)

A small number of cells, but that does not a prostate make. The 'ideal' post Radiotherapy PSA approaches zero.

As I said, if it's done its job: it isn't perfect, but it generally does a pretty good job.

After Prostatectomy you have no actual Prostate whereas after radiation to the Prostate you do, even if it's a bit sticky with scar tissue, so quite different after the two procedures.  Have seen many scans post RT (including my own), some with no cancer and some with and biopsy can still be done.  Some seven years after RT, I had a very extensive multi core  template biopsy which showed only one core to have cancer.  This they were able to see and reach with HIFU. 

Incidentally, some cancer cells can be radio resistant and with a Prostate, even a radiated one, there is the potential for a new tumour to start, as well as normal cells to regenerate..