Appear that PSA is somewhat stable at 0.5. Anyone see this before?

[FSB12]

Hi all, my husband who is 5 or so years post surgery and adjuvant radiation for a Gleason 9 had a BCR starting in January 2019. Since then his PSA values went up as 0.22, 0.44, 0.35(different lab and not in the sequence, he had a PSMA pet scan that showed nothing), 0.5, and 0.521. These were all 3 month values except the 0.35. He is not taking any medication and never had any, just vegan diet and exercise. We are obviously pleased but I am wondering what is happening? Anyone see this before?

Thank you.

[GP24]

In these studies they found that the PSA value often stabilizes at 0.4 ng/ml. But it can also stabilize at 0.5 in some cases:

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/112...

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/267...

[FSB12 in reply to GP24]

Thank you! I thought that I have seen such an article before (maybe you posted it). Any explanation on why this may happen?

[GP24 in reply to FSB12]

Amling mentions the following possibilities:

Detectable but low PSA that fails to increase may represent residual benign glands left behind at surgery. [....] Another possibility is that these low levels originate from tissue other than prostate. PSA expression has been seen in cells of periurethral glands, breast, colon, kidney and liver. It is also possible that these nonprogressing PSA levels represent a dormant focus of cancer, either inside or outside the operative field. There are many patients on watchful waiting treatment protocols whose prostate is known to harbor cancer but in whom PSA never progresses.

I hope one of these reasons applies in you case.

[FSB12 in reply to GP24]

Thank you!

[tango65]

My PSA oscillated between 0.3 and 0.4 for 7 years (after radical prostatectomy, radiation and a vaccine) before started increasing again.

Best of luck and I hope you are in the situation described by GP24.

[FSB12 in reply to tango65]

Thank you, that is interesting and 7 years is a long time. I hope that you are doing well in your new treatments.

[Hidden in reply to tango65]

Mine too Tango.

Where is your PSA now.

I am on Lupron and my PSA is .75

[tango65 in reply to Hidden]

Mine is 0.5 and my testosterone is unmeasurable.

[Hidden in reply to tango65]

Do you have Mets? My T is 7.

[tango65 in reply to Hidden]

No, according to a Ga 68 PSMA PET/CT done last January. I am having another one at the end of November.

Best of luck on this journey.

[Hidden in reply to tango65]

You too.

[Hidden]

I consider this good luck .. 👍

[FSB12 in reply to Hidden]

Yes, we do too! But my husband now has to keep up all of his good behaviors like running and biking to keep it going

[Hidden in reply to FSB12]

With your help he Can do it .. live healthy & love each other . I too have a bit of a reprieve from pc and psa’s . Keep it going as long as we can . 🎃

[tango65 in reply to Hidden]

We'll try.

[Hidden in reply to tango65]

👍

[Hidden in reply to FSB12]

I’ve done a 360 flip into nutrition ,diet and staying active . My wife assures that I do . Left to my our accord ? Who knows what I’d be doing . I probably would not have survived thus far . I need someone to tell me to get up ! And get active .. with no t I could sit down and fade into dust . Thank god for our partners help . 🎃

[Tall_Allen]

Sometimes the cancer is in a quiescent cell cycle, sometimes it gets more active. It has nothing to do with benign sources.

[FSB12 in reply to Tall_Allen]

What is the thinking about the effects of the immune system on this? Any way to keep the quiescent cycle going?

[Tall_Allen in reply to FSB12]

Some think the cancer is "preparing the soil" for future growth during this phase. I have no idea what is happening immunologically during this phase- whether it is becoming more resistant or not.

[Hidden]

Keep up the good lifestyle and another decade is possible .. 💪😎

[j-o-h-n]

Tell him to keep doing what he's doing....but tell him to stop chasing women....That'll kill him for sure or my hobby is not humor....

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Wednesday 10/30/2019 4:32 PM DST

[paige20180]

My husband is stable at .3 knock on wood. No meds unless you count metformin and lots of supplements. Good question!

[donits]

Hi FSB12

My story:

2002 Gleason 6, psa 10 and LDR Brachytherapy.

2006 Recurrence and salvage radiotherapy 45 Gy + Casodex 150mgx1 for two years. For the first two years psa was about 0.01 and later it increased to level 0,6 and was stable until 2017 then it gradually increased to 2.0 in 2019 . PSMA Gall 68 and MRI showed nothing, but I started taking casodex 150 x 1 and now participated in the Atorvastatin 80mg/placebo study for a month. My psa is now 0.48.

[FSB12 in reply to donits]

Thank you for your story. So you or your doctors thought that 2.0 was too high to ignore even with the good scan? I am not clear on what would be recommended to my husband if he progressed like this.

[donits in reply to FSB12]

My urologist at psa level 2.0 sent me for PSMA Gall 68 and MRI tests. Other tests were also done, e.g. urine tests, exclusion of cystitis or prostatitis. All clean. Then my doctor wanted to wait for the psa to be above 5 and then start hormone therapy. I asked for a casodex (Bicalutamide) prescription because I thought it was a better choice. There will always be time for hormone therapy. For now, I`m buying time and corresponding with patients who are taking "repurposed" medicines like metformin, mebendazole, fenbendazole, statins, malaria drugs etc....

[FSB12 in reply to donits]

I am sure this has been covered here before so I apologize, but is casodex "hormone therapy"?

[donits in reply to FSB12]

Hi,

There is a difference between casodex and other hormonal drugs like lupron and others. In 2006, before taking casodex, I had a single dose of radiation around 10 Gy for each breast. This radiation prevented pain and breast growth. For two years of taking casodex I had no side effects. I don`t have them now. Casodex does not block the production of testosterone in the body and therefore does not cause such effects as decreased in libido, heat waves and profuse sweating, fatigue etc. .... I don`t know how long casodex will work for me, but I have plan "B" and plan "C" (with repurposing drugs). In this forum, many patients also take repurposing drugs along with standard treatment.

[Hidden in reply to donits]

What a ride friend?

[Kevinski65 in reply to donits]

Do u know if radiation can reverse gynocomastia? Lupron and xtandi have given me man boobs that won't quit.

[donits in reply to Kevinski65]

Hi,

The best effect is when the radiation is done two weeks before starting hormone treatment. If the radiation is done during treatment, the result is weaker, but it reduces enlarged breasts.

Some patients take medicines for breast enlargement and pain.

[marlins1]

I did not see if your husband had full field or local bed Adjuvent Radiation. If it was just local bed, he may benefit from full field lymph node coverage. Should discuss with your MO and RO

[FSB12 in reply to marlins1]

He had local prostate bed radiation. So far his MO at Hopkins seems happy to wait. So we are not really clear on what to do. The RO would wait for higher PSA also.