Rise in PSA

Hi,

By your readings if they are consistent your semi-annual PSA should go up about .01/test or .02-.03/yr mathematically if you had your Prostate removed. If you had radiation it could jump around a bit more. Hard to say how “consistent “ your readings will be thus hard to predict. At that low level the cancer might not show up on a scan for several years.

Dave 3+4

Hi again @Tico14,

You would have to register consecutive PSA readings above 0.20 before you would be officially experiencing what is called a biochemical recurrence. What would probably happen then is quartely tests, and further down the track, a PSMA PET scan to try and detect where the cells are. But at your present level and rate, that is years away! Keep getting your tests, but don't worry.

As far as predictions go, I'll tell you what your PSA will be in three years' time if you tell me what the Dow Jones index will be! 😂 It's not possible to predict. My PSA nadir after surgery in 2015 and salvage 'mop up' radiation in early 2016 was 0.04 in May 2018, and it took until January 2022 to reach 0.20. My PSA is presently 0.67. I have had some scans, all negative, and remain on surveillance only. Sometimes my readings spike and sometimes they flatline. Sometimes, they even reduce. I have no physical symptoms of cancer whatsoever.

Your medical team will generally consider three factors - what your Gleason score was at surgery to determine your risk level, your PSA now, and your PSA doubling time worked out by a calculator app known as a nomogram. These things will determine the timing of future treatment, if any. I'm pretty confident that you will sail through the next bunch of years without any worries at all.

What matters is the increase in your PSA; not some study that reports 'averages' of a select group of patients. I recommend that you ask for tests every 3 months, or an interval that you are comfortable with.