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Newly diagnosed with prostate cancer: What might I be in for?
Prostate Cancer | Last Active: Oct 23 6:42am | Replies (43)Comment receiving replies
I live in Nigeria, I was Gleason 4+3, i was counselled for radical prostatectomy. i did the surgery and Doctors say everything is fine. I did a PSA test seven weeks after surgery, my psa is reading 0.56. Doctors say that is fine, but i am confused and worried with sleepless nights.
Replies to "I live in Nigeria, I was Gleason 4+3, i was counselled for radical prostatectomy. i did..."
After surgery, you should have a less than .1 PSA. Something is wrong with your doctor saying that .56 is OK. Normally if you hit .2 after surgery, they want to do salvage radiation. Mine stayed less than .1 for 3 1/2 years after surgery. If you’ve had radiation then .56 would’ve been OK., not true with surgery. Something in your body is putting out PSA and it’s not your prostate anymore.
I think it’s time to get a second opinion, are you seeing an oncologist or just a urologist? Get help from an oncologist.
No, that’s too high after surgery. Did the surgical pathology show any lymphatic activity, positive margins, etc? Did you have a PET scan pre-surgery?
Don’t know the protocols followed in Nigeria, but .56 is definitely a red flag. Get a GOOD second opinion!
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Perhaps your PSA is residual from pre sugery and still going down?
My first postop PSA test was taken at 90 days/13 weeks and reported .19
Repeated test 30 days later at .18
My understanding is PSA greater than .1 postop is called "persistent" and I was then treated with Salvage Radiation and ADT.
Prostate Cancer Foundation pcf.org has downloadable free Patient Guides.
Good wishes