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Not everyone agrees with my views, which is fair enough, but perhaps the conclusions in the study below (which I will be including in the page when I have time):
CONCLUSIONS:Agreement between prostate specific antigen doubling time calculated using ultrasensitive vs traditional prostate specific antigen values is poor. Ultrasensitive prostate specific antigen doubling time is often significantly more rapid than traditional prostate specific antigen doubling time, potentially overestimating the risk of clinical recurrence. Until the significance of ultrasensitive prostate specific antigen doubling time is better characterized, the decision to proceed with salvage therapy should not be based on prostate specific antigen doubling time calculated using ultrasensitive prostate specific antigen values.
will convince men to be wary about precipitate action based on a test that may not be as accurate as they might wish it to be:
J Urol. 2011 Oct 17.
Poor Agreement of Prostate Specific Antigen Doubling Times Calculated Using Ultrasensitive Versus Standard Prostate Specific Antigen Values: Important Impact on Risk Assessment.
Reese AC, Fradet V, Whitson JM, Davis CB, Carroll PR.
SourceDepartment of Urology, UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California.
Terry,
the Sloan-Kettering site won't even let you put in PSA values less than .1 to do a PSA doubling calculation so they also agree with that conclusion.
One use for ultrasensitive PSA that I think should be followed is deciding if to hold off getting salvage treatment. If your PSA goes down to below .02 on the ultrasensitive after a prostatectomy then one might safely postpone further treatment even if the prognosis is not too favourable and then follow the ultrasensitive numbers to see if they start going up again. If the PSA is getting up towards .2 then salvage treatment should be taken. I think this use of the ultrasensitive PSA numbers does make sense.
