PSA of 0.10 after Radiation and Chemo

mrap110

I had 44 radiation treatments and five chemos, with one to go. I was wondering if my PSA being down from 16.62 to 0.10 is a good sign. Thanks in advance for any information you can provide.

Georges Calvez

More details

Hi there,

Can you tell us a few more details like the results of your biopsy, any scans you had, etc?
A falling PSA is generally a good sign, if it then stays down then that is even better! :-)

Best wishes,

Georges

mrap110

Thanks. After thinking about

Thanks. After thinking about it I guess I should've provided more information. Had a biopsy, a scan with and without contrast, pelvic scan and a full body bone scan. The bone scan came back good, the other showed the cancer had moved into the seminal vesicules and a nerve bundle. The biopsy showed 7 samples out of 12 were positive for cancer with up to 95% involvement in some. Gleason score was 7. 

Hope I worded this right. 

Clevelandguy

Yes,Yes,Yes

Hi Mrap,

Yes that is a good sign.  Follow up with several more PSA tests over the next few months & years per your doctors schedule to make sure the number stays at .1 or below.  If the number stays around .1 you should be great shape, if the number starts to climb back up with more PSA tests it could indicate re-occurance. For now enjoy life and stay healthy.

Dave 3+4

mrap110

Clevelandguy said:

Yes,Yes,Yes

Hi Mrap,

Yes that is a good sign.  Follow up with several more PSA tests over the next few months & years per your doctors schedule to make sure the number stays at .1 or below.  If the number stays around .1 you should be great shape, if the number starts to climb back up with more PSA tests it could indicate re-occurance. For now enjoy life and stay healthy.

Dave 3+4

thanks so much for taking the

thanks so much for taking the time to respond. 

VascodaGama

So far you are in remission levels

Mrap

In my lay opinion, the decrease of the PSA reflects the success of the treatment. Both, RT plus Chemo work by destroying the DNA of the cells prohibiting further mitosis. The timing of the treatment is crucial to the success as it must strike at the time of the cells division (cell cycle) which in PCa completes within 4 to 6 months. Benign cells were also affected but they manage to recuperate as they have all functions to survive the damage. I would think that you are now on the 4th to 5th months since the start of the treatment. This was a perfect timing to have the PSA checked.

The info you share on the diagnosis makes it clear that the choice of the treatment was good. Though you got negative bone scans, the seminal vesicles invasion typically indentify high risk cases with the probability of becoming systemic later. The Gleason rate 4 in the sum of 7 may have been extensively and that may have lead your doctor suggesting the combination of RT plus chemo.  

Surely you  need more follow up tests to confirm remission. In any case, you need to remember that you got your gland in place which is not totally dead with benign cells alive producing PSA serum, so that at each test there will be always some of the stuff. Particularly in radiation treatments, patients may experience a bounce period of the PSA which could be represented in a curve with ups and downs declining at the end towards a nadir. This bounce can take two to three years to be ended so that one shouldn't be surprised if the next test comes out higher. You need two to three years in remission to celebrate cure.  However, we like to celebrate at each mile stone of achievement.

Congratulation.

VGama

mrap110

VascodaGama said:

So far you are in remission levels

Mrap

In my lay opinion, the decrease of the PSA reflects the success of the treatment. Both, RT plus Chemo work by destroying the DNA of the cells prohibiting further mitosis. The timing of the treatment is crucial to the success as it must strike at the time of the cells division (cell cycle) which in PCa completes within 4 to 6 months. Benign cells were also affected but they manage to recuperate as they have all functions to survive the damage. I would think that you are now on the 4th to 5th months since the start of the treatment. This was a perfect timing to have the PSA checked.

The info you share on the diagnosis makes it clear that the choice of the treatment was good. Though you got negative bone scans, the seminal vesicles invasion typically indentify high risk cases with the probability of becoming systemic later. The Gleason rate 4 in the sum of 7 may have been extensively and that may have lead your doctor suggesting the combination of RT plus chemo.  

Surely you  need more follow up tests to confirm remission. In any case, you need to remember that you got your gland in place which is not totally dead with benign cells alive producing PSA serum, so that at each test there will be always some of the stuff. Particularly in radiation treatments, patients may experience a bounce period of the PSA which could be represented in a curve with ups and downs declining at the end towards a nadir. This bounce can take two to three years to be ended so that one shouldn't be surprised if the next test comes out higher. You need two to three years in remission to celebrate cure.  However, we like to celebrate at each mile stone of achievement.

Congratulation.

VGama

VGama, thanks so much for the

VGama, thanks so much for the feedback. I'm glad I posted on here. So far I've got some good information.

mrap110

Oncology visit

Went in for a 6 week after treatment ended check-up. Blood work was good and PSA is now at 0.04. Think things may be looking good. Only thing now I still have some fluid retention. Anyone else ever have this issue? Thanks for any advice and have a good day.

Max Former Hodgkins Stage 3

mrap110 said:

Oncology visit

Went in for a 6 week after treatment ended check-up. Blood work was good and PSA is now at 0.04. Think things may be looking good. Only thing now I still have some fluid retention. Anyone else ever have this issue? Thanks for any advice and have a good day.

Surgery

110,

I am assuming from your thread that you never had surgical removal of the gland ?

Like Vasco, given the increased risk of metastasis from the seminal vesical involvement, extensive RT with adjuvant chemo was the best choice from your medical team.   I am not suggesting that surgery would have been good or bad, only that it is relevant in accessing your future PSA results.

Impressionistically, I agree with all that your numbers are superb and may well indicate curative result.

VascodaGama

Surely the numbers are telling the story. From 16.62 to 0.10 and now 0.04 ng/ml. You are in remission levels. Let's hope that the PSA keeps the stable profile for a long time. It may increase without any particular bad meaning but the value at the six month point (post) treatment wll confirm the success.

Enjoy.

VG

mrap110

blood tests

I went in for follow up blood work and just got the results. Everything is back to normal and my PSA is now down to 0.01. I'm finally convinced that everything I went thru was worth it.

Next up will be the ultrasensitive PSA test in a couple of months. Is there a big difference between the ultrasensitive and standard test?

VascodaGama

Ultrasensitive PSA test

I think you can continue your periodical testing using the same laboratory and assay (0.XX ng/ml). You d not need to chaeck values lower than the two decimal digits (0.XXX ng/ml).

Congratulations again. Time to celebrate.

VG

proudvet3

Iam knew here so forgive me

Iam knew here so forgive me if this is not the right place to post this.I was treated for prostate ca with 6 weeks radiation by VA INDY.my last rx was nov 25 1919.since then I have radiation proctitis. have recieved 1 rx by private physician,since I could not get to VA INDY because or rectal bleeding wich sent me to local hosp and civilian colorectal surgeon.since then my symptoms have increased{uncontrolable diaerhea)which has left me house bound,lack of sleep and weakness' DR says it will hopefully improve with time.he is looking into hyperbaric oxygen therapy.any soggestion and comment will be appreciated.

mrap110

VascodaGama said:

Ultrasensitive PSA test

I think you can continue your periodical testing using the same laboratory and assay (0.XX ng/ml). You d not need to chaeck values lower than the two decimal digits (0.XXX ng/ml).

Congratulations again. Time to celebrate.

VG

good to know

Thanks alot VG

mrap110

proudvet3 said:

Iam knew here so forgive me

Iam knew here so forgive me if this is not the right place to post this.I was treated for prostate ca with 6 weeks radiation by VA INDY.my last rx was nov 25 1919.since then I have radiation proctitis. have recieved 1 rx by private physician,since I could not get to VA INDY because or rectal bleeding wich sent me to local hosp and civilian colorectal surgeon.since then my symptoms have increased{uncontrolable diaerhea)which has left me house bound,lack of sleep and weakness' DR says it will hopefully improve with time.he is looking into hyperbaric oxygen therapy.any soggestion and comment will be appreciated.

proudvet

I think you'd be better off starting a new thread on this subject.That way people that have experience with those issues are more likely to see it and respond

Best of luck to you