End of radiation treatment: What is the followup protocol?

My oncologist told me that radiation continues to work for a full year and that, unless my PSA is high at my next quarterly test, there's nothing to really do but wait and keep getting tests every three months.

Thanks!

Yes, I heard the same, except it was three months rather than a year that they told me.

I suspect the cutoff is fairly arbitrary — half lives and all that — but the main point is that when you finish your treatments and ring the bell (congrats on that, by the way 🔔) the radiation is just starting its work.

Thank you!

I’ve heard from more than one person, both in this group and outside of this group, that it can take two or three years for your PSA to reach bottom. Bottom is not as frequently below < .1 if you have radiation.

I know in my case after salvage radiation, my PSA became undetectable for 2 1/2 years, not everyone gets the same results.

@vinny59
Did you have hormone treatments as well?

I had my first PSA 3 months after radiation (30 rounds of proton). I was told a PSA is not done right after radiation as your prostate is extremely irritated and the PSA will not be accurate.

You mentioned tumors. A lot of prostate cancer is still at celluar level. I recently posted and article from Prostate Suppor Group about radiation treatments. Most are done to damage the prostate cancer cells. Unlike a normal cell the prostate cancer cell is damaged but cannot repair itself and eventually dies.

Normal prostate cells also get damaged but have the ability to repair themselves and grow back. This takes quite a while to achieve. Some radiation treatments are designed to kill cancer tumors and not the other cells of the prosate. However many urologist and R/Os will tell you that you are most likely dealing with prostate cancer cells elswhere in prostate still at celluar level and thus can continue to grow.

Want to make sure pass on that this is not from my medical knowledge but from my R/O at Mayo and my R/O at UFHPTI. Is your PSA test scheduled for 3 months after radiation? What type of radiation did you have? Did they radiate all of prostrate or just the tumors? All good questions for you to asked your R/O or urologist.

Did you have any of the supportive tests above biopsies (PSMA, bone scans, Decipher)?

Thanks for all the information yes I had bone scans PMSA scan showed activity in the hip, yes I’m on Lupron for 3 years Gleason score of 9 … this is my third cancer I’m 65 …… thanks for the help!