PSA Always raised?

PSA Always raised?

User

Posted 03 Dec 2022 at 10:04

Hi All,

Just joined but have monitored this site for some time as I was diagnosed in June 2021 with localised T2 No PSA of 9.9(not high compared with some I know).I went through the H/T and Radiotherapy route and had no particular problems,finshed H/T in April 2022,Ive had two PSA tests since at 0.4 and the last at 1.3 in Sept 2022(slight 'bounce' apparently).

My query is that as I am having regular tests I asked for full medical access from my GP surgery and found that 10years ago(I was 58) I had a blood test which showed I had a PSA of 10 then? nothing was done or even commented on so basically I had the same score for ten years with no particular rise unbeknown to me.One might call this passive active surveillence .I know the expected levels for a man of my age(69 now) are lower but have I gone through this treatment when perhaps I need not have done.

I will say that the NHS both GP consultant and all the staff at my local hospital were excellent(Norwich).

User

Posted 03 Dec 2022 at 20:24

Interesting, and one has to ask why PSA was measured 10 years ago (it isn't a routine part of a blood test) and why a score of 10 wasn't investigated further at that time. A decision for treatment isn't normally made just on a PSA value but other investigations too, usually culminating in a biopsy.

However if that value genuinely means whatever was happening in your prostate was very slow growing, then that is a useful reassurance for the future.

User

Posted 03 Dec 2022 at 21:25

With prostate cancer your PSA will steadily increase. If your PSA was 10 ten years ago, whatever was causing it at the time was probably not cancer. All sorts of things can elevate your PSA, but if it were to have been cancer then it seems extremely unlikely that your PSA would remain constant for a decade.

Best wishes,

Chris

User

Posted 03 Dec 2022 at 23:20

Do you know the size of your Prostate as although this increases over years, in some men it is considerably larger than for others and where this is the case it will result in a higher PSA? You can't base treatment decisions on PSA alone and the situation may change over time. Some GP's are far more likely to refer a man to Urology than others and some men want radical treatment rather than Active Surveillance than others. It is know statistically that not all men with a highish PSA and even some other indications will not in their lifetime benefit from treatment but which ones? Presumably you were told this or it was in literature given to you before you had RT. Had you not had your RT and then in due course the disease had developed beyond the point that RT would have been effective, you would doubtless be asking yourself why you didn't have the RT when offered.

Barry

User

Posted 04 Dec 2022 at 00:59

That is interesting. It is very odd that it was ignored a decade ago. You have a very good point if it was flat lined at 10 for a decade would it have remained flat lined for another two decades and your treatment has been pointless. The short answer is we will now never know.

If you had known about that result a decade ago, then asking for a PSA test every six months would have been a good thing to do. Quite honestly there ain't much point in worrying about what might have been, now.

You had cancer, it was treated, you're probably cured. If you had ignored it you might have lived or died.

Dave

User

Posted 04 Dec 2022 at 08:54

Guys, Thanks for the replies.To answer a couple of points raised.The test 10 years ago(I now remember) was because I had,unusually, a UTI which was knocked out with antibiotics,I was referred and a consultant gave me digital exam which he said was satisfactory so I went away happy.

Nothing more till 18months ago when I had a pain in my hip and had talked to a mate who recently was treated with Pc so I went for a test and then jumped on the merry go round of treatment which as I said was all good(so far).

I suppose I am overthinking and don't want to take up the sites valuable time when my Pc has been zapped and hopefully eradicated but I think I will raise this point if my PSA continues to rise,next test is due April so we will see.

Good Luck to all of you in your own treatment and recovery.

User

Posted 04 Dec 2022 at 16:44

Kaine, you are not wasting this forums time. Histories of prostate cancer and what diagnosis lead where are helpful for future readers. You probably just had a UTI a decade ago, and your PSA probably did drop in the intervening years. Even though we don't know the full story this may help someone in the future understand how their PSA may have behaved over time.

Another good reason for posting, is that this forum has a disproportionate number of bad news stories for obvious reasons, so a bit of balance from good news or just indifferent news stories is helpful to get a realistic picture of the disease.

Dave

User

Posted 05 Dec 2022 at 17:44

Thanks for the explanation Kaine. PSA is generally considered a poor indicator of prostate cancer on its own (unless very high), because it can be due to other things. If your doctor thought the reading 10 years ago might have been explained by localised inflammation resulting from the UTI, he probably decided that a digital exam as the easiest next check gave reassurance.

If so, it is probably uninformative as to your previous background level. Anyway, things are looking good after your treatment, I hope it stays that way.

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