advice re 0.02 reading

[Ffghytrrg]

Hi everyone my first ever psa age 53 no symptoms 3.1 jan 2022 mri pri 3 hard prostate Gleason 3+3 no other scans mri did not detect the size of tumour l was told to go on active surveillance My brain said no ,choice given to me was remove prostate or brachytherapy l had operation in May 2022 all good with operation pathology report Gleason 3 +4 perennial invasive within prostate 27 mm tumour so aggressive bladder metastasis 0.02 psa so all good last 6 psa tests 0.02 0.03 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02

All psa tests in the morning except 0.03 that was a afternoon test

Advice given let’s wait until 0.2 is that good advice considering my initial 3.2 psa surgeon said l made the correct choice as it was more aggressive than they thought hopefully radiation to the bladder neck if they can do that ???? if and when the psa may rise

What are your thoughts on this

Thanks

[Dachshundlove]

You sound like a person who values a gut instinct—glad to hear that paid off for you in your initial treatment.

Regarding testing, have all psa tests been done at the same center, and reported in the same way? Some tests are more sensitive than others and results are reported differently due to that.

It would be appropriate to test your psa at closer intervals and observe if there is an actual trend upwards.

Do you have a medical oncologist? If not, you should find one. A medical oncologist would be helpful now, given your bladder metastasis and residual post surgery PSA.

That medical oncologist could find you a radiation oncologist and determine if there will be a benefit to adding other medications to your treatment plan.

Low psa prostate cancers are very confusing.

Good luck to you— may you experience a long remission from PC and die from something else.!

[Ffghytrrg in reply to Dachshundlove]

I’m in the uk so under nhs just been told they will go to 6 months psa test from the 3 months I’m not happy with that so l will do one at doctors 3 months then the hospital one at 6 months I’m just under urologist now until a rise unfortunately this is nhs rules

All test done at same laboratory

I did worry as no other scans apart from mri when l had the cancer and that was a blurry scan

No bone scans done

But I’m thinking l should be ok if 0.02 after op ?

I’m just thinking slightest psa rise could indicate cancer because of low psa at the start of treatment

But l will hold my fingers crossed

I just want to be one step in front as it has paid of once with my thoughts to get it out of me

But l guess no one can say how long the bladder mets will stay asleep for

Guess it does not look good 2 other family members died of it one other has it

[Dachshundlove in reply to Ffghytrrg]

It’s adds many layers to the anxiety around PC when one has a family history of it and has seen the suffering it causes. I’m sorry to hear about PC being such a menace to your family. .02 is good after surgery, is there a “<“ sign before the .02 on those test results, Indicating undetectable?

You could also do at home mail away psa tests, which people who are monitoring commonly do in the USA (land of $$$ ala carte medical)

These tests are often cheaper to do at home than at a clinic in the USA.

6 months likely won’t change your treatment prospects if you chose to go with NHS protocol,

[Tall_Allen]

Good advice! There's no point in treating before PSA reaches 0.2. Good idea to give cut tissues time to heal anyway.