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gents,
thoughts on this. i had robotic prostetectomy in March 2015. since then my last two PSA tests, in april and july and been reported as <0.1. which would mean negligible.
that's good. however, i just had my third test (doctor wants to do it every 3 months for the 1st year) was reported as 0.1. Though its not a big change by any means, but I am obviously wondering why! it could be that the first two results were just under 0.1, say 0.09 and the reporting mechanism cant show that decimal or is it really going up....

anyone that's had surgery or have info to share is appreciated.
PS i see the surgeon this Friday so i haven't been given any doctor's advise.

Hi tarheelgwb- Your slightly increasing PSA could be from the Prostate tissue that your surgeon left behind when he seperated your prostate from your bladder....you might ask him about that. The larger the volume of prostate tissue left behind, the higher your PSA will be when it finally levels off.

PSA can only be generated from prostate cancer or prostate tissue. In my case, the surgeon left considerable prostate tissue behind and it slowly started to generate PSA as it reconnected itself to my vascular system. Mine also started back up after a couple of months of my surgery and continued to slowly increase and then finally leveled off at .3

I hope this helps and you should be asking some questions on Friday....

Cheers,

Curt

Also, your body hydration will effect the very small PSA number from your test.....to get an accurate number each time you have your test, hydrate yourself very well the day before and stay well hydrated until your test is done. Be consistant with this or your numbers can vary a lot needlessly.

Curt

Also make sure you get your tests done by the same lab and at approximately the same time every time.
Either one of these can cause a fluctuation.

Are you also aware that diet and exercise has an effect on keeping the cancer at bay?
The Prostate Cancer Foundation has a good booklet on this. I recommend you go online and
order one.

thanks for all the comments. so for an update, I visited the surgeon last Friday as i mentioned. he said some of the same comments about using the same lab but that isnt an issue for me as i always use the same lab for all blood tests. anyway, he said that the small increase isn't a concern at this point unless it rises about .2. he also mentioned that some cells could be left behind due to the nerve sparing. anyway, i go for another PSA test in late Feb/early Mar. which will be my 1yr anniversary after surgery. Just kindof makes me nervous to see a little increase even though the change is slight.

tarheelgwb wrote:gents,
thoughts on this. i had robotic prostetectomy in March 2015. since then my last two PSA tests, in april and july and been reported as <0.01. which would mean negligible.
that's good. however, i just had my third test (doctor wants to do it every 3 months for the 1st year) was reported as 0.01. Though its not a big change by any means, but I am obviously wondering why! it could be that the first two results were just under 0.01, say 0.009 and the reporting mechanism cant show that decimal or is it really going up....

anyone that's had surgery or have info to share is appreciated.
PS i see the surgeon this Friday so i haven't been given any doctor's advise.

FWIW: I had a robotic prostatectomy 3½ years ago; I had a Gleason score of 7. There are, supposedly, two different types of PSA tests and I cannot recall the difference, although I think one is more accurate than the other.

Since surgery, my PSA has bounced between .02 and .04. My urologist said they cannot really measure that accurately, so it is considered "undetectable." But he did say that if it went up to .06 they would then monitor it more closely (I have a test every 6 months now). My next test is next month and to be honest, I don't even worry about it anymore.

Andy, I also had a robotic prostatectomy in October 2014, PSA at that time was 4.53, I had a Gleason score of 8. My Dr was Dr. Kenneth Slawin @ Vanguard Uro in Houston. He is involved in Prostate Cancer research and is also working on a vaccine to help with suppression of the cancer. There is another PSA Test that he uses (and may have discovered) named the USPSA, Ultra sensitive PSA . He used this test and for me , in October my PSA= 4.53, in Dec 14 PSA= <.006, March , July, August and October 2015 have all been <.006. He also has a system called PHI, Prostate Health Index, which uses more than just PSA for information . I have had Dr.s say that the usPSA is not needed because it doesn't matter if your PSA is <.006 or .05 or .1 all that will be done is monitor it, which may be true. I feel that the usPSA readings can / will show a trend earlier and possibly catch a problem sooner. I would rather be treated by a doctor who is over cautious and wrong than by one that is nonchalant and wrong.
This is not a commercial for Vanguard Urological in Houston TX but they are good, compassionate people that will help you through this and come with pretty impressive credentials.
Williamb

Quoting myself:

Andy425 wrote:FWIW: I had a robotic prostatectomy 3½ years ago; I had a Gleason score of 7. There are, supposedly, two different types of PSA tests and I cannot recall the difference, although I think one is more accurate than the other.

Since surgery, my PSA has bounced between .02 and .04. My urologist said they cannot really measure that accurately, so it is considered "undetectable." But he did say that if it went up to .06 they would then monitor it more closely (I have a test every 6 months now). My next test is next month and to be honest, I don't even worry about it anymore.

Heh, okay now it's my turn to start worrying (again).

My recent PSA test was .06.

Probably meaningless, but it gives me something to worry about over the holidays.

I emailed the news release on the prostate cancer vaccine to a friend last week. It is now in phase ll clinical study. Yes sirs, it is a vaccine for prostate cancer. One company has licensed it to another for more research study according the report. d