PSA Test Result after 5 years of RP

Walt1956 said:

Hi Sam.
My PSA has always
Hi Sam.

My PSA has always been less than 0.04 (<0.04) and considered undetectable.

Now my PSA= 0.03 (not less than 0.03) and is considered detectable.

Hence my question.</p>

PSA
Walt,
There are plenty of people here that might be able to answer your question. I guess my question is if less than .04 isundetectable how can .03 be more Most of what you posted seems quite mild. I do not believe it is that much to worry about. Meet with your doc and see what he says.

Good luck. No sense worrying until you have a reason.

hunter49 said:

Welcome aboard. We are very
Welcome aboard. We are very similar only I had my surger in 11/11 at 49. My most recent PSA test came back at .025 when last 2 were <.01. I freaked and called my friend at Hopkins and he said relax that is way low and undetectable. He advised to see if it was a difernet lad and it was so I went to the lab that did the other 2 and it was .01. I wondered why that was and the lab advised they no longer say less than any number on a ultra sensative test so the lowest you can go is .01. See if the test is the same lab but either way the number is down and your doing great.</p>

Detectable or Undetectable, that is the question .......
Walt

Doctors got by experience different threshold values to diagnose the stats of their patients. The wording “undetectable” could include many levels of PSA. Some doctors use a level of 0.1 as their target of success. Results above this marker become detectable. Any value below [less than (<)] is undetectable.

Laboratories also refer to the PSA according to the LLD of assays meaning that a number lower than their finite limit would be represented with the (<) sign in the assay’s LLD. You are right in saying that <0.04 could be lower than 0.03 but both numbers can be considered as detectable or undetectable if the doctor’s threshold is that low.
(http://labmed.ascpjournals.org/content/40/2/105.full)
Mathematically one could say that 0.03 equals to <0.04 or even that the value 0.03 is lower.

Another fact to consider is that PSA values at such low levels may be erroneous due to many other factors. The above survivors know it well that a PSA of 0.03 is low and such is a reason for celebration not worries.
You may like to read this link;
http://www.yananow.org/UltraPSA.htm

My urologist threshold was PSA=0.06 in RP success judgement but some use a threshold of 0.03. However, both numbers indicate remission.

As far as I am aware of, the two decimal places (0.XX) ultra sensitive assays, independently of the maker (Abott, Boehringer,Cobas, etc), got tolerances in the LLD of (0.01, 0.02 and 0.05). LLD of <0.04 is new to me.
You may like to know that newer assays now still go further in distinguishing between aggressive and nonaggressive prostate cancer, using other bio markers. Here you got information if interested;
http://www.abbott.com/news-media/press-releases/abbott-licenses-biomarkers-for-use-in-differentiating-aggressive-from-nonaggressive-prostate-cancer.htm

Congratulations on the Zeros.

Welcome to the board.

VGama

ralph.townsend1 said:

Zero

That's great. Being a zero is good!!!!

Zerrrrros

Congratulations.

Best wishes for continuos remission.

VG 

Bmrguy8 said:

2 Post-Op PSA Test result <0.04</b>
Haven't been on in a while but wanted to report my 2 year Post-Op PSA test result of <0.04.  So happy to be here and still be a member of the "Zero Club."

Great News!

Don't you just hate it when it's time for those regular PSA tests?

Bad news, good surprise

I am 52 years old and had first HIFU, then hormonal trearment and finally last year in September RP. First PSA reading was great: < 0.01. Big celebration after all the different trearments we had tried! However 2 weeks ago, i did another psa testing - same lab as always - and the nurse infromed me over the phone that the PSA was now 0.04!!! Reading all the blogs, it was still clear that it was nothing to worry about. However quadrupling in 2 months time did not feel very comfortable to me either. Today my wife passed by the doctor for a foot injury of my daughter and asked for the official paper to send to my urologist. She phoned me immediately at work with the good news: the result was not 0.04 but < 0.04!!! And the best part was a little line at the bottom of the paper stating that the lab from now no longer considered < 0.01 as undetectable but 0.04! So as a matter of fact, my psa probably was as undetectable as before! Happy to be part of the zero club again!!!!

Walt1956 - You are doing Great!

It is generally accepted that if you can keep your PSA from doubling for 15 months you will be alive after 15 years or more. Your PSA hasn't doubled in 5 years after surgery and more importantly it is veritually undectectable so I would say congratulations!

I'd be very happy to have a PSA of .03. My PSA three months after RP surgery was 3.1 and three months later is 4.1. If it continues at this rate I won't make it to 15 months before it reaches 6 (which would be doubled thus indicating the cancer is progressing too quickly for me to expect too many years ahead.) The prostate cancer has metastasized to my lymph nodes (stage is T3aN1M0) but from there is likely to go to lungs or hip bones.  I'm now 62. So indeed you should be very happy at .03 five years after surgery.

 

HI and thanks

HI and thanks

I am 25 months post radical robotic surgery. I had a PSA of 0.02 or 0.03 for all this time. Now it's

0.04.  Is this common?  I know the drill about the sensitive tests and being a "zero", but I guess I'm reaching out to hear from others who have had some "activity" in the PSA.  I am one that thinks "something is making it go up."  But, of course, it's  such a small sample at this point. My golf group has a urologist and a guy who works for a testing company.  Uro says. Keep checking.  My other friend who works for the PSA testing company says. It's only noise.  What do you think?  

glh

 

Question on PSA

My doc at MD Anderson doesn't use the ultra sensitive method for measuring PSA  so my measurements  are reported as < .1 ng/ml when your good ( assuming RP ). Also I had always thought that there were other glands in the body that produce PSA , ie adrenal glands ,so that the PSA would not read zero  when using the ultra sensitive test.