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← Return to Today’s (10/30/25) psa test
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@jeffmarc Interesting question. The 0.11 reading was from Quest. They do not indicate this as an ultra-sensitive test. It’s just their standard test, using the Siemens chemiluminescent method. The 0.094 reading was from LabCorp, and that was ordered as an ultra-sensitive test. So, perhaps, as you say, the Quest assay is ultra-sensitive but they don’t call it such.
The blood draws for these tests were quite literally back to back, same day (in September) within 15 minutes of each other. Yeah, I thought it was interesting that different assays yielded results that close, or for all practical purposes, the same.
Also makes me wonder what would have happened (or not happened, really) back in June if I had done the LabCorp ultra-sensitive test and it came back < 0.1. Instead, I used Quest then, and my PSA was also 0.11. That number, and a palpable module detected during a DRE, put further testing in motion, which took my right into salvage RT.
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@melvinw
Different labs get different results. One thing people are told is to only go to the same lab if they’re getting PSA test that way they are consistent.
Either one of your tests are real good. You are under radiation treatment, It doesn’t kill the cancer cells immediately. It leaves him in a state where they die, but it can take a while. That state also prevents them from spreading or growing, They just die. You will see your PSA slowly drop, though it can be quick too.
In my case, my PSA went up to .2 so I had salvage radiation for around 9 weeks. Three months later, my PSA was undetectable < .1.