Rising PSA after prostate removal

[Jens99]

Had surgery within the last year and PSA went from untraceable three months after to 0.02 and 0.03 on last test. Doctor says to wait 3 months to see what the numbers look like and if there is a trend. Anyone experience rising numbers so soon after surgery? I was a Gleason 7 (3+4) with mostly Grade 1. Did have a little extra capsular extension in pathology report.

[Tall_Allen]

There's no need to rush into SRT. You will get the same results if you wait until your PSA reaches 0.1.

[Jens99 in reply to Tall_Allen]

Just got another psa test and now at .05. Is this considered a short doubling time even though it is such a small amount? Went from .02 in August to .03 in November and now on February .05.

[Tall_Allen in reply to Jens99]

Doubling time is undefined for values below 0.1

[Jens99 in reply to Tall_Allen]

Thank you!

[Justfor_ in reply to Jens99]

This min 0.1 for PSADT is a relic of the past when lower than 0.1 was considered "undetectable" because the analyzers of that period were only reporting to the first decimal place. With two decimal places reporting, like yours, it is true that the rounding error of values inferior to 0.05-0.06 equals or exceeds the accuracy of the measurement, nominally taken as 20%. But, there are ways to circumvent this ambiguity, typically by more frequently sampling (oversampling is a well known tool for reducing random noise applicable from digital audio to GPS positioning number crunching).

Anyway, your PSADT is shorter than 6 months, thing that places you in the intermediate-high group for recurrence.

I am taking monthly PSA tests, mostly paying out of pocket, not because I have money to throw out of the window, but because numbers are only valuable when there is confidence backing them.

[santosjr59]

Same with you after 6 months of Prostatectomy (2018), my PSA .03 then another 6 months .04, .06, .07. I decided to diet with raw vegetables. I use blender with those mixed vegetables. After 1 year my PSA dived to .02. My gleason score was 7(3+4) based on the Pathology report after my operation.

[MikeyVilla in reply to santosjr59]

I quit my job, took some supplements and mine halved (having gone up 6 fold in the prior 15 months). My doctor also said no reason to rush into SRT. Need to do next test soon, so fingers crossed.

[Gulfrider in reply to MikeyVilla]

Can you share what supplements you are taking

[CarlosBrasil]

I had a similar scenario, except that my PSA never got undetectable after surgery, was 0.1 two months after it. I started ADT imediatelly, and had SRT six months after surgery. I wish I had more time to fully recover from surgery before doing the RT. I was almost recovered from the surgery UI when I started the RT. At the end the UI get worse, and I could never get rid of it.

I would follow TA advice, and use the time to prepare yourself for the next phase. Good look.

[JPnSD]

Mine began to reappear 6 months post-op. I then switched to monthly readings for PSA and traced the rate with a plan to get on ADT when it crossed the .1 level....and then did salvage radiation 4 months later (delay due to Covid). I am off ADT and have had undetectable readings continue with monthly monitoring. I will soon switch to quarterly readings.