PSA Results 9 months after RRP

Luther,

Sounds like a plan. You want to avoid the avoidable but once you decide you gotta do it there is no percentage in waiting.

If you send me an email for Logoslidat I will forward it to him. He's taking a sabbatical.

I agree with you, I wouldn't even think of RT until you've seen .1 a time or two. It will be interesting to see if you move past .06. Looks like you've been at that for a few tests.

Andrew

Luther,

FWIW, when I finally hit 0.1 my PSA stalled there for nearly 3 years before it started moving again -- though then it quickly doubled twice to 0.4 in about 8 or 10 months. So even though your trend is upward, it might not be on a steady trajectory.

Jim

Luther, respect your overall concern with your number(s), but with your pattern and current number, I would continue to keep an eye on things, but way, way to early, in my opinion, to consider any serious secondary treatment (i.e.SRT) at this time.

My "people" at the time, went by the you need 3 consecutive rising numbers above .10 spread 3 months apart as the starting gate for SRT. Different doctors have different standards on this of course.

I went into SRT at .16, but my PSA never was below .05 from the start post surgery, and had doubled in 3 months. In any event, the SRT was the biggest medical disaster of my life, and left me fully disabled, and ended up needing Urostomy surgery with a stoma for life, as my bladder neck and bladder were fried in the process. And the best/worse part, the SRT never remotely slowed down my cancer, and the last time I was checked, PSA was sitting above 80.x. Obviously, my remaining cancer wasn't even in the prostate bed for all my troubles.

I hope it doesn't for you, but if you get to or above .10, you will still have plenty of time to consider a secondary treatment. There are risks associated with SRT, I found many RO's understate that part, so I only suggest that men really feel they are at numbers to justify that risk before pulling the trigger.

David in SC

Good luck, none of this is ever easy for any of us to decide, no matter how sound the medical advice you are getting from your doctor(s).

Hi David, I appreciate your insight and hope to continue active avoidance until that fateful day. Seems that the more I learn, the less I know for sure. Thanks for your note.

Best,

Luther

Luther, my rise in PSA mirrors yours! My recover after the op has been fine, still squirt a bit of pee now and again so keep a pad going. Erectile function good without pills!
I had a real shock when @ 9 maths PSA rose to 0.05 so I had it checked one month later and it's up to 0.06!
At this rate I'll be 0.1 @ 12mths so I have an appt with urologist set for early August.

With the sudden rise from 0.02 up to 0.06 I re-read my Histopathology report to discover Lymphovascular & perineural invasion present....which in turn brought me to this extraordinary forum.

A big thank you to all contributors!

I have to say, being diagnosed in the first place was a real shock. I'd just spent the past year purchasing a yacht in Marina Del Rey, California and sailing it across the Pacific to Australia. I was fit, tanned and feeling very well and looking forward to many years cruising.
I was so lucky to be accepted onto a free clinical trial of MRI Guided biopsy verses the usual random biopsy.....I had 4 guided jags and 12 random ( felt every one) and only the guided hit positive!
Luck was with me again to be chosen amongst 400 men in a study of robotic verses open surgery....and I got the robotic, with quicker recovery which made living on my boat easier.

If it's got a zero as the first number after the decimal point, I wouldn't worry too much. once you hit .1, it's time to make a move.

Luther
Protocol says wait for two successive .2 readings before starting SRT for high risk guys. Some say start it as soon as continence returns post op. I'm high risk gl9 pt3b . I waited til PSA went from .1 to .2 to.3 in eight months then had lupron shot and I start IMRT in two weeks. I also had 3t MRI to try and locate the PCa before SRT starts.
Bob

Breaker, any success in locating PCa with 3t MRI with only 0.3 PSA?