Chris - you make an excellent point. If in fact it’s PCa cells it had to escape before your prostate surgery more than 16 years ago but more like 20. Your Psa would have very different kinetics and...
Nano I appreciate your passion and deep engagement with this topic, as well as your willingness to share your unique journey and experiences. That said, I think it’s important to keep the diversity...
They have seen a lot. I would listen to them and not be influenced by what you read here by people who are not physicians....
NanoMRI Yes you are correct in that there just isn’t a lot of literature or studies regarding benign tissue. That said, it certainly doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist. The absence of such studies...
Thank Chris. Your post on your visit with the drs are very helpful, instructive, and encouraging. My urologist told me basically the same thing regarding my numbers which are quite a bit higher than...
Agreed. My urologist told me to move to 6 month intervals versus annual....
Here is a study on benign tissue https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3696410/...
Benign prostate tissues left behind after prostatectomy can have a blood supply and may produce small amounts of PSA. This phenomenon is called benign residual glandular tissue, and it is not...
In the exact same way that cancer cells survive!...
The term “prostate-specific antigen” isn’t exactly correct, because there are other cells in the body that produce PSA at very low levels. Urethral glands can, and so can salivary glands, normal...
You were probably always at the very low detectable limit if the lab could read below .03 which is where you still are. You are good. To be honest, my situation is a little more worrisome with my...
Of course drs will perform SRT below .1 and even .04 and .05. Each case is very different. At 15 years out, the decision to radiate is very different versus seeing a Psa rise early on. You didn’t say...
Also, don’t forget that many centers of excellence still use the standard Psa especially for monitoring low and intermediate risk cases like ours this far out from surgery. We would both be...
You have absolutely nothing to worry about. I have a similar situation and posted a few months ago. My Psa has floated around for the last 10 years with the USPSA test from .06 down to .04 and .03....
Let’s say my next Psa test goes up to .08. That would be three rises. You say go treat. Drs say wait. They say wait because let’s say it never rises again and in fact goes back down because it’s not...
Mattam- you too are misinterpreting data. I spoke to an RO and he said those situations in which people were treated below .1 are completely different than my situation. Those were for patients that...
Thanks Mumbo. I always have appreciated your thoughtful responses. Some of the others here- not so much. lol....
I’m sorry but three rises do not equal bcr and there isn’t a dr that will treat until I hit .15. I’m now 15 years out from surgery and the treatment protocol is completely different from someone in...
Thanks Mumbo. The article certainly suggests that MFS is a lot higher than the 50% that JNF states in his post to Native. He then goes on to say that it’s even more effective when it’s in close...
So every 6 or more frequent?...
Thanks Halbert. The details are in the signature in my last post and will be here also...
Is it true that SRT is only curative about 50% and when it’s closer in to surgery. That would be very disheartening. And Mumbo - I like your style so I will ask you - should I retest every 3, 4 or 6...
Hi all I’ve seen a number of people post recently with slowly rising PSA numbers more than 10 years out including me. My numbers have been bouncing around until last year when it jumped back to .06...
Thanks Halbet I have access to the best here in New York and have friends that are in the field that can get me in quickly....
Thanks Stephen. I respectfully disagree. Halbert did not say that if something is brewing you would eventually want to call an oncologist. He said “I’d suggest you call a medical oncologist and ask...
Thanks to you both. Those are very divergent opinions between the two of you. Halbert says see an oncologist and Mumbo says congrats…. There isn’t a dr that says I have a problem. I know right now I...
So now I am officially freaking out. I just received my psa result 6 months after my last test which came back at .07 up from .06. Sounds like bcr to me. Not sure what I should do now other than...
Benign tissue typically bounces around at very low levels. From my untrained eyes with psa levels at .5 and rising steadily does not appear to be benign. You should further investigate....
I don’t think you’re jumping the gun. You officially hit the definition of bcr 9 years after your surgery on 12/20 at .2....
Thanks all. Here’s a quote from the chief of urology from a top hospital in NYC. “I absolutely agree that u should just switch to standard PSA testing the likelihood of ever reaching 0.1 is...
Thanks again. No, if I make up my mind to test again in 6 months or 12 months, I will not be anxious until a few weeks before. I recognize I’m lucky compared to many on this forum but I’m still...
Thanks Mattam. Yes. The labs have been different over time. I had two tests that were .04 and .05 back in 2015 and 2016. Then it switched to a lab that went to less than .05. Last year, my test was...
Thanks Mumbo for the thoughtful reply. Yes I have been doing annual testing and I frequently delay my physical which includes the psa test by a month or two because of fear of the psa test. I’ve been...
Thanks for the reply DJin. I will probably just stick with the same test and retest this week. Not sure however why you would say that it appears to be slowly rising. My psa was .04 in 2015, .05 in...
Should I just switch to the standard test which will show undetectable until or if it ever reaches .1 This will help stop needless worry and given my history I probably shouldn’t take action until it...
I had a full prostatectomy 14 years ago. My Gleason score was 3/4, clear margins and no lymph or seminal vesicle involvement. This year my psa reading was .06 up from .03 last year. It is important...