how high before hormon shots

Your doctor got a trigger threshold for your case
Muck

The PSA level to trigger the start of hormone therapy varies according to patient'S status.
In aggressive high risk cases the threshold is low.
In my case, considered systemic because of lack of information on oligometastatic cancer, with two failed radicals (RP + RT) and negative image studies (traditional MRI and Bone scans), the uro-oncologist treating me used a threshold PSA of 1 ng/ml to start HT. I come from a nadir of 0.05 at the 13th month post RT that doubled (PSADT) at the speed of 9.5 month until October 2010.
I did IMRT in November 2006 (PSA=3.8) and started HT in November 2010 (PSA-1.0), 61y/o.

Your PSA is higher than mine but our cases are different. You should confirm recurrence firstly. In any case, your doctor also has a threshold he uses by experiences. Inquire about it in your next consultation.

Be patient and act coordinately.

Best.
VGama

Old-timer said:

My experience
I went on hormone therapy at PSA of 20.4. That was for years ago. PSA dropped to undetectable and remains at that level. I am nearly 86 and I have been coping with prostate cancer for 21 years. Not a bad ride, actually. Reckon I am lucky.

Best to you.

Jerry

Your experience
Jerry
It is so good to have you around. Your experience excels all others.
I wish you a continuous success.

VG

A Judgement Call

 

There is no standard answer for your question. Different doctors and institutions use different thresholds. A prominent PCa oncologist at a major NYC university hospital told me that his threshold is roughly between 2.0 & 5.0. A patient at MSK told me that his doctor uses 6.0. These thresholds are used because studies have shown that there is no advantage to beginning HT earlier for patients with RECURRENT PCa. The exact starting point is a judgment call on the part of the doctor and is based on the pathology of the cancer. The doctor's overall experience, Gleason score, PSA velocity, and PSA doubling time all factor into his or her decision. Based on the same data, some doctors will be more aggressive than others and start HT earlier. Treating PCa is both a science and an art. You have to take charge of your health, and sometimes, a little trial and error is involved finding the right doctor. I think that it is very important to find a doctor that you are comfortable with, one who has a treatment philosophy similar to yours, and one who has your complete faith. That doctor needs to be a PCa specialist, but need not necessarily be affiliated with a major cancer center.