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As I write this the feeling is the same as my first entry here at YANA almost 5 years ago. I had an RRP almost 5 years ago with good results, my PSA was <0.01 from September 2004 till October 2007 when it was 0.02 it stayed the same until March 2009 when it was 0.1 and again 3 months later 0.1
My uro has referred me to a radiation specialist for salvation radiation, has anyone had this experience of such a low PSA reading for so long and what am I in for?
I would get a 2nd opinion from a prostate oncologist. Your PSA seems too low to go rushing into a salvage procedure just yet. On a reoccurrance a psa doubling time greater than 3 years has a high probability of never hurting you.
JohnT
Greg,
I think your situation does arise from time to time, where the PSA after surgery goes undetectable for many years, yet does finally reappear. From what I have read there are many millions of cells necessary to make a detectable PSA, even using the highly sensitive equipment that is currently available.
Salvage radiation is likely to be in your future, but not certainly. You mention a radiation specialist, I presume that would be a radiation oncologist. Go see him or her and get all your questions answered. You are not committing yourself to any treatment nor to any time frame by taking this next step at this time.
And I certainly wouldn't wait till your PSA gets up to 0.5 (for example) before seeing the oncologist.
thanks guys for the replies, my uro recommends that I get treatment at 0.2 PSA and definatley before it gets to 0.5.I am going to see a Professor of radiation that specialises in prostate radiation, I saw him 5 years ago and it was him that recommended surgery as the best option for me at the time and I will ask him the same questions but it is nice to hear from people who have gond down the same road
Regards
Greg R
I was DX in Feb 2002, had surgery in June 2002, and I have been living with a PSA bouncing around .1 and .2 for eight years. I take PSA reading about once every six months. One time it hit .3 and then dropped to .1, that was about four years ago.
My baseline line to seek further treatment is somewhere between .7 and 1.0, and who knows it could be higher ten that.
There is another person ion this web site that is now over ten years, and had an RP. His PSA after the RP has averaged between 1.0 and 2.0 for almost 8 years. He manages it with a healthy life style, and I think he changed jobs for one that is less stressful.
I think to find out how fast it is moving is more important then rushing into treatment. Besides, at the speed that the economy is falling, and our 401K, that might kill us first.
