Will any kind of PSA test show levels higher than 1420

[mikell]

My latest blood test shows a Total PSA of >1420. I've believe I've seen PSA levels mentioned here high than that. Is anyone in the US aware of a PSA test which will indicate true value above 1420. The most recent test is after my Jevtana chemo failed. Latest PET scan shows increases in mets and now observed mets in liver and pancreas. Also been through two rad treatments to Cervical and Thoracic spine, Xofigo late last year and SBRT to prostate a few months ago, during the Jevtans chemo.

[noahware]

I believe I've seen reported PSA levels far higher than 1400 (maybe close to 10,000?), but even if you cannot find such a test commercially available via members of this forum, wouldn't your docs be able to find a way to get you one if they thought it was relevant to the treatment plan?

[RyderLake2]

Hello, I think I might be one of the people you are referring to. My initial PSA at diagnosis was a little less than 1700 (1691.49). By the time I got to see an urologist (and later a radiation oncologist) it was over 1700. Mine was a standard PSA test done at our local hospital. That was in May, 2013, eight and a half years ago. My urologist put me on Casodex (bicalutamide) and, a few weeks later, he took me off Casodex and put me on Zoladex (goserelin). In a month my PSA dropped to 593.4 and in two months, to 59.19. My PSA stayed low for over four years and when it climbed to 3.4 in September 2017, my medical oncologist put me on Xtandi (enzalutamide). Touch wood it has remained low for the past four and a half years. Over the last eight and a half years I have had close to ninety PSA tests. The medical lab I use measures PSA to <0.008. Hope that helps.

[Hidden in reply to RyderLake2]

Which lab do you use? I use Labcorp and my readings keep coming back at 0.008. Thanks.

[RyderLake2 in reply to Hidden]

Hello, At my lab <0.008 is considered undetectable. I have had that reading a few times over the past eight and a half years (not recently). I use My Care Compass (the old name was MyEHealth). I get the readings on-line faster than my oncologist. When I have blood work done in the morning, I usually have the result by supper time. If your PSA readings are consistently at 0.008 you are probably in good shape. Unless, of course, you have a strain of PCa that doesn't exhibit a Prostate-Specific Antigen reading. That is quite unusual. Good luck!

[coachmark in reply to RyderLake2]

my recurrent PSA is 2.3. I had the surgery in 2010. I have had a bone scan, a CT scan, and recently a PET scan. All 3 scans detected nothing. Now my Urologist is "suggesting" possible radiation treatments. He says it could be that small amounts of PC is localized in the same area where my prostate used to be. He will have Radiology call me to discuss possible treatment. So here is my question - would you choose radiation to your prostate area IF you have a PSA of 2.3 and the scans you took all came back with negative readings? Some say yes - while others say no. Thoughts?

[RyderLake2 in reply to coachmark]

Hello, Good question. First, I would move from a urologist to an oncologist and see what he or she has to say. Second, doing radiation to an area of the body where you cannot see any evidence of PCa lesions is sort of like "duck hunting with a blindfold on". My recommendation would be to wait until scans reveal cancerous activity and then have the radiation. Hope that helps!

[Hidden]

With any test, I always ask: How will the test results inform the treatment plan? You are getting imaging and that's more valuable diagnostically so I'm not sure getting an accurate PSA above 1420 will have a lot of value for you in terms of helping your plan for treatment.

[Tall_Allen]

I've seen values as high as 10,000. But what use are they to you?

[Hidden in reply to Tall_Allen]

Me too! Here

[Kaliber]

My psa tests at DX was 1400-1600 at Kaiser which used the 0.1 readout , one decimal point down. I’ve heard of guys here with well over 5000. So, yea … I believe the generally used tests do indicate well over 1430. This is strictly my antidotal observation.

💪💪💪😁😁😁❤️❤️❤️

[LearnAll]

Very high PSA (over 100s or 1000s) does not by itself mean that prostate cancer is aggressive. If it was true that very high initial PSA causes very aggressive PCa..we would not be discussing anything with those folks here on this forum ...after months, years and even decades. I mean ..there is no direct co relation with how high was your PSA with how aggressive your PCa is. It only indicates that you have prostate cancer which produce a lot of PSA.

The re are lot of men on this forum who started with PSA in hundreds or thousandth ..but alive and well after many years. My initial PSA was 830 only to go down to 0.19 after 12 months of ADT. There are many different biomarkers which can indicate if your PCa is aggressive or not. How high was it is not important ...how low it went after treatment is what really matters..

[CurrentSEO]

In July last year at diagnose my PSA was 1,694 , one week after biopsy my PSA was 13,201 and 6 weeks after biopsy dropped to 11,154. Tested in Germany various labs.

[Hidden in reply to CurrentSEO]

Mama! 😳

[mikell]

I do believe that some numerical value (other than just greater than ) is helpful since at least one would be able to see a trend in the numbers. A bit harder with ">1420". Have I got 1450 PSA or maybe 2900 PSA and is it going up or down? But, it seems my Northwestern Onc doesn't know of PSA tests that indicate true readings higher than 1420.

[CurrentSEO in reply to mikell]

I completely agree with you, you should be able to monitor your trend at any PSA numbers to see how your treatments effect it. In Germany they test up to 30,000 for sure (probably no one had more than that and stay alive). I cannot advise you on US labs, but I'm pretty sure some of them absolutely capable to do such tests up to 30,000 also.

I suggest to place some calls to different labs in the States (you can search here labfinder.com/blood-test/ps... ) and ask them what is the test range of PSA they can perform (you obviously do not need ultrasensitive PSA test at these numbers) and after you found one or two to inform your oncologist that you want this test to be done in such lab or just pay for this tests yourself if money is not the issue.

[Woodstock82]

My first PSA test was reported to me by my PCP as "...off the top of the scale, which goes well above a thousand." He referred me to an oncologist at the University of Kansas Medical Center. My PSA was re-tested there, and I was told, "We had to dilute the sample three times to get a readable result: 11,201.69 ng/ml." So it can be done, but it's not a regular procedure.

I agree with gregg57's comment above "...ask: How will the test results inform the treatment plan?" But I also sympathize with your comment "[It would be] helpful...to see a trend in the numbers." Conclusion: worth pursuing, but at a much lower priority than scans to monitor what's happening with the mets in your viscera.

[Cosmo3]

My PSA was 1580 on 11/11/2021 right before my 1st AC 225 treatment. On 11/12/2021, the next day it dropped to 1230 after my treatment. On 11/29/2021 it was 524 and on 12/2/2021 it was 424. I’m not ready to celebrate yet because I have another blood draw schedule for 12/14/2021. Hopefully the trend will continue because I was beginning to lose faith in my battle with this disease.

[mikell in reply to Cosmo3]

I know what you mean (losing faith).

[Teacherdude72]

Definatly switch to an Oncologist. Keep uro in hand for support but the Onco should be the lead.