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Your nadir point is the lowest PSA value after treatment. I think your PSA nadir would be considered undectable but I am not positive from how you described it. If you really want to know more you can (maybe) find out which machine your lab uses to do the test (probably an Abbott Diangnostics). Then go through the operators manual and find out what the detectable number is but it is probably greater than about .003. The machines are very accurate to about plus/minus .005. I do know that PSA numbers bounce around a lot but the big blood testing machines are all automated and tested for accuracy every day so I do think they give an accurate value for the sample at the instant of time it goes through the machine. I think they can do something like 1000 samples per hour or more.
Thanks for the reply, Frank. I doubt if my little Alaskan hospital does 1000 psa tests in a month. They do have the lastest (new facility) although I don't know the manufacturer.
I think that the 2 year treatment on Lupron skewed things up to this point. I'm still awaiting my consultation with the Uro but from the way you have described things this latest reading would be a good starting point.
Hi Pat,
On Jan 4, 2011 my PSA hit 0.29 and my urologist at hospital #1 recommended salvage radiation therapy. I went to hospital #2 for a radiation oncologist and he did blood work and my PSA came back at <0.1.(they don't go lower). So I did it again at hospital #2 and again it came back at <0.1. So the next day I went back to hospital #1 and my PSA came back at 0.07???. I booked an appointment with my urologist and he told me to do my PSA before our meeting and that is what I did on Jan 27 and now my PSA at hospital #1 read 0.03???
All bloods were done at university affiliated hospitals in a very large city. Go figure!!
My urologist told me to hold off on salvage radiation.
Two radiation oncologists and a medical oncologist told me that I should do radiation and HT.
I still haven't made my decision.
Good Luck,
Doug
