PSA level post op

User

Posted 20 Jun 2022 at 13:05

Hi all, I had my RALP on the 28th April. First PSA test taken on 15th June (6 weeks post op) shows a psa of 0.023. Not sure what that means. I know its meant to be undetectable post op but what does undetectable mean?

User

Posted 20 Jun 2022 at 13:43

"Undetectable" means indistinguishable from zero with the sensitivity of test they use. The catch is that different hospitals seem to use different tests, or at least report them differently.

My hospital uses 0.05 as their limit of detection; anything below that is recorded as <0.05 which is interpreted as zero. So in our part of the world your PSA would be undetectable.

Hope that is at least slightly helpful. The level is too low to be a concern of itself, but if it showed signs of rising then it might be. I think most places use a value of 0.20 as the level when further treatment is considered.

User

Posted 20 Jun 2022 at 14:27

There isn't a national agreed threshold for 'undetectable' as it varies from lab to lab but NICE guidelines define 'detectable' as 0.1 or above

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard

User

Posted 20 Jun 2022 at 20:45

Thanks J-B and LynEyre. Since I posted my prostate nurse has suggested getting another PSA test done on the 29th so that I have an uptodate result for my consultation on 1st July. She seems to think that it may still fall as its only 6 weeks post op and in many places they say to wait 8-10 weeks for a PSA. From your responses its looking okay but it would be reassuring to see if it does fall a bit more as I was hoping out would be totally undetectable - but maybe I was being over optimistic

User

Posted 20 Jun 2022 at 23:12

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member

I washoping out would be totally undetectable

You may have unrealistic expectations. If your hospital lab was testing to one decimal place (as many do) your pSA reading would be <0.1 and recorded as undetectable. Ultrasensitive testing shouldn't be causing unnecessary anxiety

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard

User

Posted 22 Jun 2022 at 23:04

Yes you're probably right Lyn. I think it was when the nurse said it might just be a blip was what set me thinking because up until then I didn't think having a PSA of 0.023 was fine and hadn't regarded it as being a blip or anything to be concerned about. Sounds like I am being over reactive

User

Posted 22 Jun 2022 at 23:57

0.023 is fine so long as it doesn't start going up!

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