HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

6 months post radiation PSA

Support Forums
>
Prostate Cancer
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 7/23/2008 2:59 AM (GMT 0)
Hi everyone, my latest PSA came back 0.5 up from 0.4 , I know a lot of people on this forum would be real happy with this figure, but I am wondering where I am headed now?

Seeing doc next Wednesday.

Regards Mal. 

Posted 7/23/2008 11:21 AM (GMT 0)
My 3moth post radiation was 0.1 at 6 months it was 0.14 I go for my 9 month in 3 weeks, sometimes the psa will do that. good luck on your appt with your Dr

Posted 7/23/2008 11:59 AM (GMT 0)
Soon after radiation, there is sometimes, what they call a "bounce" in the PSA.. It may go up some and then go back down. There is quite a bit of information online about this. I wouldn't worry...Di
Posted 7/24/2008 1:54 PM (GMT 0)

Hi Mal,

The link is to a web site called PSA Rising and the article addresses the PSA and the "bounce" seen after radiation treatment. Essentially the longer it takes to reach a nadir and the lower the nadir the better the result.

Don

http://www.psa-rising.com/med/ebr/nadir_survivalpostrad06.htm

Posted 7/31/2008 4:03 AM (GMT 0)

I am 57 and was told two days ago that my biopsy came back with 2 of 12 cores show cancer.  Of the two cores, one was 3+4 and the other was 4+4.  In each core they were around 14%.  I've read articles, forums, talked to docs, and I'm just not sure what to do.  It seems that for me, the more information I get the more confused I become.  I simply am phobic about general anesthesia so most of my confusion is probably me trying to convince myself that there is a better way.  I was pretty much settled on IMRT but my docs haven't said anything to my about hormones.  The original urologist, who is a surgeon, recommended surgery because of my age. The only thing I've read so far that has me really concerned is what options - other than hormonal therapy - do I have should my psa go up in a few years?  It sounds like there isn't anything I can do due to the scares caused by the radiation.  Am I missing anything here?  Is there something that could be done IF the cancer came back in 10 years?  Also, is the hormonal treatments palative or can they also cure the cancer?

Between  Cyberknife, Proton, DaVinci, HIFU, Radical, IMRT, IBRT, Brachia(sp), Hormones, I feel a little overwhelmed.

Help! :/

Posted 7/31/2008 4:36 AM (GMT 0)
Hopeful,
First off take a deep breath. Sometimes planning can be very stressful, but you need to look at the pros and cons of each treatment option. They are different decisions in each and every case and yours is no exception. I am a believer in positive thinking. And the best way to get there in cancer treatment is with knowledge. You have to look at treatment options in two ways ~ localized or systemic. You should be looking at localized treatment for high risk of relapse patients. This may include hormone therapy and it may not. If you choose a surgery option you have to accept that general anesthesia is a must. My experience was uneventful. If you choose a radiation option you may avoid general anasthesia, but would likely have less options later. But studies show that you can fare just as well. Cyberknife and HIFU are relatively new and still are under scrutiny. That does not mean they don't work, but your Gleason grade may indicate a different option. More proven are the radiation options and surgery, and you can still have hormone therapy later in all options. I have been through the gambit of surgery, radiation (IMRT) and hormone therapy. HT was the worse of them, but I can still tolerate it. As I've said to many, get a good doctor, a second opinion, and consider a multi-faceted major cancer center. Sometimes a combination works better than a single treatment.

We all felt overwelmed at some point. You are just two days into this and I know you are "cramming" right now. You don't have to learn it all in a couple days. Take your time and Stay Positive. You have many, many good days ahead.

Tony
Posted 7/31/2008 9:34 AM (GMT 0)

Mal,

  I have a very similar profile to you, my psa level at three months post op. was .4, I was then offered a trial of chemo (six sessions of taxotere).After four doses of chemo my psa is now .2. My doctor has told me that no further treatment is necessary unless my psa goes above .5.

    

Posted 7/31/2008 12:21 PM (GMT 0)
Torgeir

              Glad to hear your psa has responded to chemo, my psa reading 3 months post op was aslo .3 my doctor advises wait and watch, a rise above .5 and I guess its RT not something I look forward to. My doctor says he has other patients that have stayed below .5 for years after rp without tratment which means that if its not cancer it must be prostate tissue. I have not seen any other pc sufferers on here or any other website where their psa level has stabilised at .5 for years after rp without any treatment. any comments ?

✚ New Topic ✚ Reply