UPSET AND CONFUSED !

Had robotic prostate surgery in Oct 2011 at a well know University

Gleason 6, Margin OK, 10% cancer

PSA READINGS are a roller coaster ????

12/11 - 0.05

1/12 - 0.03

3/12 - 0.02

6/21 - 0.13

7/12 - 0.03

10/12 - 0.02

1/13 - 0.21

Can anyone help explain the fluctuations in my PSA, this is really upsetting. 

Have a re-test scheduled for 2/15/2013

It scared me back in June when it went from .02 in March up to .13, but then it went back down to .02 in October, now .21 in January.

I vote for a retest. With one spike up and back down before, the last test is suspicious until confirmed.

very possibly a bad day at the lab.
Andrew

I would try to relax. This isn't much of a roller coaster - very shallow rises & dips.  When measuring PSA down to +- .01 , I think psycologically, the variations look bigger than when measuring to +- .1 .

I think a +- .1 variation isn't something to worry too much about at this point. The overall trend is the important thing. There is always some "measurement noise".   AND, you did go from a .13 to a .03 in only a month.  Get another blood draw in 3 months.   It might be back in the .05 range again.   As long as it doesn't steadily rise, you are probably fine, I would think.  Cancer doesn't take a holiday and then return home.  Something else funny is going on.  Good Luck.

Well an 0.02 in October and now Jan. a 0.21, that's a big jump in and of itself. They told me Gleason 6 and not a very aggressive cancer ? IDK

Just recevied the 30 day re-test result, 0.08 how can this go down from 0.21 30 days prior. someone is very happy - ME !

They might have forgotten a zero. That exact thing happened to me once and it scared the crap out of me.

VACopper, my husband's PSA jumped up to 0.1 (from undetectable) 17 months after surgery. One month later, it jumped up to 0.3! The third (and supposedly the definitive test) showed it went back down to undetectable (less than 0.1). Asked uro how common this was...he said more common than we're lead to believe. According to the doctor, likely cause was benign prostate tissue left around the external nerves that generating low levels of PSA. My husband is closing in on the 5 year mark and his PSAs have been undetectable since that anomaly.