Low PSA getting RT

I think its 13 weeks post open RP now and just finished day 2 of 36 days of RT. After surgery my PSA never got over 0.09, Tested at 10 and 12 weeks but my surgeon and Oncologist still said RT was needed due to my post-op path report. I wonder how they will measure the effectiveness of the RT? Isn't 0.09 really like nonexistent? Should I have insisted they wait?

There seems to be so much controversy concerning treatment for this cancer.

Salvage radiation sounds like the right call to me. You had invasion in the right seminal vesicle but your PSA is still low, technically undetectible but not really undetectable. The odds of someone with your stats going on to have BCR are pretty high I think.

If you had a PSA of .09 and no invasion (SVI+) that would be a tough call because there's a chance the PSA could be due just some benign tissue left. But that's pretty much ruled out by the SVI+ finding.

If you had a PSA of 2 with SVI that would be a tough call because a PSA that high might suggest that the disease had spread and local radiation would therefore not be potentially curative.

If you were older or if you are in poor health otherwise, you might argue for not putting your body through the extra stress.

But with a PSA of .09 and SVI+ you still have a reasonable chance of a real cure, rather than a long term battle that can't be curative, only delaying. You are young as prostate patients go. If you are otherwise in good health it makes sense to not let a potentially curative treatment go untried.

Just my 2 cents. Good luck!

Thanks, I'll try to get my hands on them.

Thanks, I terms of "measureable" if it don't go up,(PSA) I guess the RT was a good decision. 32 more treatments to go! Good luck to you.