PSA question

[Nyquist5]

Question-my dad has stage 4 with bone mets- he is doing zytiga and Lupron- he is going on 1 year with this treatment. He had a wonderful oncologist that we loved but bc of insurance he had to move to a new office. Our last dr never really gave us a PSA number after dad went under 1.0 - just always said undetectable. This new dr gave us the number .04 but never said undetectable- is this the same thing...

[Break60]

This is a good reading . Treatment is working. Less than .1 is considered undetectable and .04 is less than .1. Just watch the trend . If it starts to increase it could be that the treatment has stopped working.

Bob

[tom67inMA]

"Undetectable" can mean "lower than the test can detect". Different PSA tests will have a different lower limit. Your new doctor may be using a more sensitive test.

[Nyquist5]

Good info- thanks!

[Nyquist5]

Bill68- I think that is what is getting me is the inconsistency of reporting to us- I think I am just anxious over starting with a new dr and I am trying to wrap my head around the fact that things will be different!

[Break60 in reply to Nyquist5]

He’s using the ultra sensitive Psa test which is why you’re getting a more detailed result to the hundredths of a point. Recurrence is typically defined as two successive measurements of .2 or greater. He’s a long way from that.

Bob

[tom67inMA in reply to Nyquist5]

Anxiety is perfectly normal. Many here refer to the test as "prostate specific anxiety". The human brain has evolved to focus on the one threat that can kill us. That's great if there's a tiger nearby, but not so great if we're focused on a single number on a blood test.

[Tall_Allen]

These are things you should have in writing (online is OK) so you can track them. I'm sure you got it wrong that he said under 1.0 is undetectable - on a conventional PSA test, undetectable would be under 0.1. Whether something is detectable or not depends on the test and the lab. undetectable is designated by the "<" sign.

[Nyquist5]

Gotcha- I am learning so much! I dont have access to Dads patient portal so next visit I will get a paper copy. I see- under .1- so currently he is undetectable but I need to keep an eye out for trends- hence why I need the copy of PSAs- correct?

[charlesmeyers1964]

men who had never ha cancer in the prostrate are rated from 0-4.0 hes normal when it reaches over 4.0 then he had delectable cancer.

charlie

[EdBar]

If it doesn’t have a < sign in front of the number it’s not undetectable.

Ed

[Bethpage]

I also appreciate that guideline. Thank you.

[j-o-h-n]

youtube.com/watch?v=grWh_WO...(Not working as expected?)

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Wednesday 02/13/2019 2:03 PM

[mccartney_7]

Much the same with my readings. I had surgery and for the first 4 years the hospital just gave me the undetectable report, no number. I switched clinics and the first checkup reading was 0.07, scared me. I had several more tests at 3 month periods and the numbers hovered at that level. Now, 10 years later my latest reading was 0.08. Not sure where that is coming from, never down to zero, but it looks like those low readings are background scatter or something.

I'd say your dad is doing excellent with those readings.