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Got a couple questions I feel some out there might have a good answer for.
1- Free PSA seems to be a good tool when diagnosing chances of a higher PSA being caused by cancer. Why isn't it used after treatment when there is a slow rise in PSA to determine the chance of the rise being from left over cancer or from normal prostate tissue left behind?
2- There are many mentions of shortening of urethra causing various problems after treatment - from Pyrones disease to penile shortening. During heart bypass surgery they use a vein from a leg (all the way from groin to ankle!) for use in adding lines to supply the heart. Why can't some researcher come up with an inch and a half of something to replace the removed portion of the urethra?
Jon,
I found your first query interesting, so since I am currently in bio-chemical failure (PSA of 4.4 after a nadir of .1 after proton therapy) I sent an email to my oncologist and asked about the usefulness of a free PSA test. His reply was "a free PSA tells us nothing. It is not helpful when you have had cancer."
Not very enlightening but at least he responded.
