Connect
← Return to Numbers After SRT/ADT
Discussion
Comment receiving replies
See Chip, this is where I get very confused. My rational brain tells me that if my PSA goes up after the SRT/ADT I just completed, the PSA must be coming from somewhere OUTSIDE the treated area - ie, prostate bed and pelvic nodes….but WHERE??
According to Jeff, recent comments by leaders in the RO field say you might not be able to see a lesion less that 5 mm with PSMA PET scan - do you know how freakin BIG that is??
So what if your PSA hits 2.0 and your PSMA shows nada….wait til 3 or 4? After having G9?? I don’t know, I have no answers but Dr Scholtz seems to think this is the way to go as well, so your RO may be following his lead. But this approach scares me, to be honest. Sounds like the PSA version of Russian Roulette.
If my PSA starts going up after all this treatment I might say screw it, take out another mortgage and spend the $100K on Provenge…it won’t bring the PSA down but it might be better than playing whack a mole for the rest of my life.
I hope neither one of us has to find out!! Best,
Phil
Replies to "See Chip, this is where I get very confused. My rational brain tells me that if..."
Connect
If your “PSA hits 2.0 and your PSMA shows nada…” then request a non-PSMA PET scan like Axumin (aka, F18-Fluciclovine PET/CT).
Under normal circumstances, a PSMA PET scan far surpasses the older non-PSMA PET scans. However, in those situations where a PSMA PET scan doesn’t show anything, yet you know something is wrong due to a rising PSA, then is the time to fall back to one of the older scans.
Axumin (FDA-approved in 2016) doesn’t rely on PSMA. Axumin works by exploiting the fact that prostate cancers absorb amino acids at a much more rapid pace than normal cells. Axumin is made up of a radioactive tracer linked to an amino acid. Cancer cells absorb the amino acids more avidly than normal cells, so when Axumin is used, the radioactive tracer concentrates inside the tumor cells. When the patient is imaged, the areas that have a high concentration of the imaging agent signal the location of the cancer in the patient’s body.
(In these circumstances, the Mayo Clinic falls back to the even older C11 Choline PET CT that was FDA-approved in 2012.)
Good luck.