Any other methods Better than PSA to monitor prostate cancer?

i HAD A PROSTATECTOMY IN 2015 AND SINCE HAS BEEN .< 01 ...WHAT ARE THE CHANCES OF IT COMING BACK?
THE SURGEON ACTUALLY TOLD ME 20 YRS IS EXPECTED...g
GETTIN THERE...

I am not a medical expert or professional but can pass on my experience.

Did you have your prostate removed?

If you had your prostate removed your PSA should be at the non detectable level. Many labs have different non detectable numbers so don't want to give one.

If you had your prostate removed they would be checking to see if your PSA is rising above non detectable. That would indicate to whom ever is testing that need to do additional testing.

If you are saying you have PSA then is it at non detectable number?

When you say you had "it removed" are you saying your prostate was removed or just the cancerous area or tumor? If you still have your prostate you are going to have PSA above non detectable numbers. That is the norm and not to be concerned with unless it start rising again over and over and then doctors need to find out why?

Sorry could not be more helpful.

Hmm. 10 years ago the surgeon gave you 20 years, probably based on mortality data that was already 20 years old at the time.

Prostate-cancer treatment has changed so much since the 1990s that data collected back then (even if cited in recent studies) doesn't tell us much.

I was replying to seasuite. I don't think they just remove the tumor, but the whole prostate. Perhaps they can do ablation which I wouldn't be interested in with Gleason 9.
After removal PSA should drop too undetectable.
If PSA starts rising it is considered a reoccurrence.
It is somewhat common for cancer cells to be left behind and a pathology slide can show this, as it did in my case.
ADT and SMRT radiation is the Standard of Care.
One month in with mild side effects from treatment.

Completely agree,
Thers area so many statistics and studies out there that are outdated and/or contradicted by other statistics and studies.

I am part of a 25-million-dollar federal grant given to UFHPTI to do long term research on prostate cancer research with photon and proton radiation treatments.

I have to filled out a tremendously long research questionnaire every 6 months and meet with R/O but I hope I can help get better research and more applicable statistics than the contradictions mess that is out there now.

I am lucky to have a Mayo PCP that constantly researches prostate cancer as he wants to be able to give the best advice he can to his patients. He also keeps his own statistics and research he collects from his patients.

There’s really no way to know…so much depends on your post op pathology (Gleason, etc). But if you’ve been good for 10 yrs post op, even IF you had a recurrence, your cancer is most likely a slow growing one and treatment ( or not) would depend on your age, physical health, etc…

Thank you.

And mine was the opposite. My PSA + biopsy put me right on the bubble of active surveillance but when Decipher came back as high risk I went right into treatment options (prostatectomy).

Decipher has been sort of a gold standard for prediction, and PSA at least gives an indication.

Recently I linked up all my various health sites to my Apple Health app, one of which was Labcorp, and I can see my PSA rising over the past 5 years and it was right on the money - it meant trouble.

The advantages of PSA for surveillance once you have prostate cancer are

1. It's cheap and safe, so you can get tested more often (vs anything radiology-related).

2. It gives early warning that *something* is happening (even if you're not sure exactly what).

3. It's easy to compare over time to spot trends.

That said, it's not the final word, just a conversation opener.

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