Lost my < symbol

I would get a recheck. In my 2 years of being undetectable I had 2 psas come in at .06... No <.... And then undetectable....

The "less than" symbol is being used in a weird way in your case, and it would make me a little curious about whether the lab is doing their job right.

Usually the < is just applied with reference to the sensitivity limit of the test itself. Thus, if you were being tested on a machine with a sensitivity of .01 and you didn't reach the minimum they'd say your psa is <.01 rather than saying it's zero. Likewise if you were tested on a machine with a sensitivity of .05 and you were less than that, it would be reported as "<.05". But if you were above the threshold of the particular machine, you'd ordinarily get a report *without* the less than sign. For example, on a machine with a sensitivity of .01 if your had a score of .064 it would be reported simply as ".064" without the less than sign.

Sometimes a doctor or hospital will set the threshold for reporting a little higher than the minimum threshold for the machine, just because they don't want their patients to get all scared about readings that are too low to have any clinical significance. A lab I went to for a while had a machine that read PSA down to the .001 level but they rounded up to .02. Thus if I had a reading of .013 the lab would simply say "<.02". That is not a limit of the machine, that is a decision made by the lab director in consultation with the doctors.


The fact that you are getting reports with the less than sign at odd increments is unusual, and the fact that you got .064 four times in a row is pretty unusual in itself. I wonder if something unusual is going on in the lab. I would ask your oncologist. And I might try a different lab if there were an option in the area. Just to be sure.

Your PSA appears to be rising. I would consider .01 and .008 essentially the same reading. They are so close to the minimum sensitivity of the machine that the difference between the two is not meaningful. But the fact that you moved from .01 to .06 to .17 means you are showing a rising trend. I would get a re-test of that last test promptly and see if it holds at .17. if so, there's a decent chance you might have to do some salvage treatment in the coming year. Definitely keep getting tests regularly and keep an eye on it.

Good that you are on top of it. Variance between tests certainly can be unnerving. I have understood that .2 is the threshold to indicate something could be simmering. It could stabilize where it is and never be a problem.

Your next test should tell the tale, whether it be a harmless blip, or evidence of recurrence, which I hope is not in your future. Steady nerves and patience are in order until then.