psa .14 then .04 after surgery

mikebur
mikebur Member Posts: 24
edited March 2014 in Prostate Cancer #1
I had radical prostatectomy on 7/25/03, gleason 7 and a little cancer got into the capsule and on the edges of the inked margin. My first 3 month follow up psa was 0.14 and then the second 3 month follow up was 0.04(just this week). The direction is great and I am happy the psa went down but I am curious why it was at 0.14 the first time. My doctor says that it doesn't usually happen that way (and he was concerned when he saw the original psa) but sometimes it does. I am curious if anyone had a similar situation and did the psa ever go back up again? Thanks and God bless. Mike

Comments

  • nutt
    nutt Member Posts: 140
    #2
    Mike,
    I assume from your doctors statement he believes to have contained ALL of the cancer? If there is doubt, have you discussed radiation as a followup?

    As to the psa; my doctors weren't alarmed with a little jumping around -- they do not want to see an upward trend. Check with your doctor but believe he is looking for something leveling off and dropping to near zero?

    I would definetly check re: radiation if there is any chance that some of the cells did not get removed!

    God Bless and stay in touch.
    Joe
  • mikebur
    mikebur Member Posts: 24
    #3
    I still have not seen anyone go from a higher psa (0.14) to a lower psa 0.04 after radical prostatectomy. The psa is usually already at the lowest. Has anyone else experienced their psa going from higher to lower? Just curious. God bless. Mike
  • cooleydd
    cooleydd Member Posts: 7
    #4
    The PSA is sometimes not accurate. I would not worry about why but worry about it staying down at that level. Hopefully it will continue to drop - keep close watch on it.
  • nodawgs
    nodawgs Member Posts: 116
    #5
    Maybe I missed something, but I don't understand why your doc was surprised. Some minor, but localized, post-operative infection activity could have caused a non-prostate cancer related elevation in prostate-specific antigens (PSA). Usually, they simply prescribe an antibiotic and re-test in 30 days or so.
  • mikebur
    mikebur Member Posts: 24
    #6
    nodawgs said:

    Maybe I missed something, but I don't understand why your doc was surprised. Some minor, but localized, post-operative infection activity could have caused a non-prostate cancer related elevation in prostate-specific antigens (PSA). Usually, they simply prescribe an antibiotic and re-test in 30 days or so.

    Hi nodawgs!!! He looked at that possibility also but I had no fever or any signs of infection and this initial psa was taken 3 months after surgery. If there were any post op infection there probably would have been other signs earlier than the 3 month time period. But thanks for your heads up - it was something he considered. Thanks and God bless. Mike
  • Dario
    Dario Member Posts: 8
    #7
    Hello Mikeburr, I had a prostatectomy on 4/15/04 and I just had my 2nd PSA test. My first one ( 3 months after the RP ) had a reading of .2 Doctor said to not worry because my system was probably still filtering the PSA out , my 2nd test last week came back a .0 , no trace of anything. I also had capsule break through. Read my post from last May on this forum.

Discussion Boards