Hi, Mel.
I'm pretty sure we've chatted on here before mate. Our diagnoses were pretty similar. I was T3a, EPE, I had negative margins and a lower PSA 7 than yours, but my Gleason was higher at 9 (4+5).
I had RARP over three and a half years ago. Like you, so far, I've been lucky and had no recurrence, my PSA has remained undetectable at <0.02. However, according to nomograms I still have about a 50% chance of 'it coming back' within the next six years.
https://www.mskcc.org/nomograms/prostate/post_op
As I was at high risk of recurrence, for the first three years after surgery, I was on three monthly PSA tests, which were then changed to every six months.
I'm due my next test, which will be 45 months post op, next month. Although my PSA anxiety has reduced, I still find testing times a testing time. 🙂 I've found that prolonging the time between tests has definitely helped.
I think I read some research, where they'd found, that if your PSA was had remained undetectable for three years after surgery, it was safe to have only annual checks. I'll see if I can find a link to it. As far as I can remember, however, it didnt include men like us who were at higher risk. Anyway, it all sounded a little too risky me for me.
For my own peace of mind, I'm still happy enough to have six monthly checks. It would just be my luck to go to yearly checks, and find the enemy had returned.
I think you'd need to be man of steel to have zero PSA test concerns.
Good luck, mate, and long may those undetectable arrows fly. <<<<<<<<<<<. 👍
Late edit: I couldn't find a link to the the actual research about prolonging the time between PSA tests after surgery but an AI reply suggests it exists
The 3-Year Risk Threshold: A large-scale European study analyzing risk-based monitoring found that the risk of rapid, aggressive biochemical recurrence (BCR) decreases dramatically after the first three years post-surgery. If a patient's PSA remains completely undetectable during this initial window, moving immediately to annual screening is sufficient and safe. Late recurrences (occurring after several years) typically feature favorable pathology and an exceptionally slow doubling time, meaning they do not require ultra-frequent monitoring
Edited by member 10 Oct 2026 at 10:35
| Reason: Additional text