@jim18 Indeed. I can’t tell you how many times docs, and medical staff, have looked at me quizically when I insisted on getting the same test from the same lab and even the same facility. When that has happened, I usually ended up saying something like, ‘Well at least humor me, I spent a career as a research scientist. I’m a stickler for consistency’. I’ve had docs tell me there is no significant differences between the various labs, much less the various assays.

When my PSA first registered as detectable (0.11) in June 2025, ten years after my prostectomy, my new urologist brushed it off as “lab variation” and was not even interested in retesting. I went ahead and retested a few days later (same lab, same assay, same collection facility). The result was 0.12. He immediately changed his tune and referred me to advanced prostate cancer colleague and put in an order for a PSMA PET scan.

As has been said many times in this forum, you really have to be your own advocate, even at the risk of seeming obnoxious.