Posted 10/29/2015 5:27 PM (GMT 0)
Welcome to HW.
I think it would be a rare case that it came back after all this time.
Well, a few possibilities come to mind. One is lab error. Sometimes the labs get it wrong. I'd ask for a retest to confirm. Another is your miss reading the what the number means. or you could be a rare person.
Also how long have you been doing the ultra sensitive tests? The traditional test reports anything below .1 as a "0" or undetectable. The test that can detect below .1 are somewhat new (last few years I think), so it's possible that you had the test method changed and you're seeing a number that the older tests can't find. So it might be a meaningless number as you've always been at .03.
What would really matter is a rising pattern indicating that something is kicking out PSA and is growing. So again, retest in a few months with the same lab and same test method then compare the results.
It's always possible that some small amount of prostate tissue was left behind and it's slowly growing. The PSA may or may not be PC related, but that would be very difficult to figure out at this low level.
If the worst does prove to be true, you have treatment options. Likely you wouldn't need think about treatment unless your PSA started to get closer to .1. If it got to that, you'd be looking at some kind of HT and the question of whether to treat or not and when would treatment start.
The hope here is that what you have is a lab error. The piece of data you have so far is just a puzzle that needs further investigation. By itself it means little other than a bit of medical oddness. It doesn't mean you have a re-occurrence. It does mean you need further testing.
I will have to say that I've not heard of anyone coming back after 12 years, so you might not find that person here.
Hang in there,
Andrew