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PSA "undetectible" for amost a year

Prostate Cancer | Last Active: 5 hours ago | Replies (13)

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Profile picture for melvinw @melvinw

Glad to hear the PSA results. Especially good news given your pathology. Best thing you can do now is stay on top of the PSA testing.

I had a RARP in 2015. Gleason 3+4, Stage pT2c with one positive margin. Prolaris score gave a 53% chance of BCR in ten years. I was offered adjuvant radiation but opted out becasue my PSA was undetectable (<0.1) and stayed that way for ten years.

In 2023 my uriologist dected a small nodule in my prostate fossa but PSA was still undetectable.

In June 2025, my PSA rose to 0.11. PET scan and MRI confirmed that the nodule was a local recurrence. No evidence of distant metastasis. Caught the recurrence about as early as possible. Did 38 sessions of IMRT in fall of 2025 (no ADT) to treat the recurrence. PSA is still hanging around 0.09, but it can take a while to bottom out, especially if the cancer is indolent. But as long as it is not trending upward, I am fine with any value below 0.1. So far, no major, or even minor, lingering side effects from the radiation.

So, yeah, I made a similar decision to save radiation for an actual recurrence. No regrets on that decision, but keeping up with the PSA testing was a critical component of that strategy.

Hope all continues to go well.

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Replies to "Glad to hear the PSA results. Especially good news given your pathology. Best thing you can..."

@melvinw

Melvin, how did doc detect nodule? DRE?

@melvinw

I agree 100% that you made the right decision by not preemptively starting radiation treatment while your PSA was undetectable. You avoided unnecessary treatment and its potential side effects for ten years—that is huge in my mind.

In addition, I’m pretty sure that by waiting, you have benefited from the availability of more varieties of advanced and targeted radiation treatments than were available 10 years ago, as well as more options for hormone treatments that may be gentler on healthy tissues.

Thanks for sharing your experience, and I wish you all the best in the future.