Posted 9/16/2016 11:11 PM (GMT 0)
bluesharp, that is a very good response, dropped to what's usually called <0.1. That's as good as most of us non-surgery types ever hear. I was there the whole 3 years on hormone therapy.
You may find, as I've been expecting to, that the PSA will rise a bit after hormone therapy "wears off". Tall Allen stated it well. You'll only eventually find what your true radiation result is. In a sense Ht "masks" your true PSA. Your rapid PSA drop is due to HT, not the RT. Don't get too fussed about it.
I'm 5 months after the end of 3 years of HT. My testosterone has rebounded back to 290 already, and my PSA came up a little to 0.2. I think that's great, and as long as it stays down somewhere under 0.5 for the long term I think it's a victory. However, at the first meeting with my new MO, he got all nervous about it, and thus made me nervous about it. Inappropriately, to me. I'm seeing another doc for a 2nd opinion, since the first guy did not give me any confidence.
The whole topic of PSA pattern after RT+HT is quite unclear. The general practice for a number of years has been "nadir + 2" for PSA. So, your nadir is <0.1, even though still under HT, for that definition. You wouldn't worry about even a biochemical recurrence until a PSA of 1.5 to 2.0 or so. Even then, they'd be hard-pressed to find an actual problem spot with available scan technologies. Maybe they could, maybe even at the 0.5-ish range, but it's less likely.
Hang in there, man. We're in a similar boat. You're just going to have to be patient and not get freaked out. Easier said than done, believe me!