← Return to PSA Result Help: What's the difference between PSA and Free PSA?

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@web265

It is another determining factor in trying to figure out if you have Prostate Cancer, that ship has sailed. I don't really think it's too important in your case.

From the Prostate Cancer Free.org website..
https://www.prostatecancerfree.org/prostate-specific-antigen-psa/
Then about 3/4 down the page...

What is “Free PSA?”
Free PSA is a diagnostics test separate and unique from the standard PSA Blood Test. Total PSA is the sum of the free and the bound forms. Most PSA binds to other proteins in the blood. The remaining unattached PSA is named “free” PSA. Men with a lower percentage of free PSA have a higher risk for prostate cancer. For example, a man whose total PSA is 6.0 ng/ml with a 10 percent free PSA has a higher likelihood of having prostate cancer than another patient whose total PSA also is 6.0 ng/ml but with 35 percent free PSA. Therefore a high free PSA percentage is good. Free PSA is not used to monitor results after treatment only to evaluate risk before diagnosis. The free PSA test is particularly helpful in situations where a biopsy is negative but the PSA is slightly high. If there is a low free PSA, another biopsy 6-12 months later is usually recommended. If it is high, then a longer wait is usually recommended.

The free PSA test is a road sign to help determine whether further work-up and follow-up is necessary. A high free PSA does not guarantee that a person is free of prostate cancer. In some cases, a biopsy of a nodule will turn up prostate cancer despite a low overall total PSA and a high level free PSA. The total PSA is what is measured with the standard PSA test.

Edit to add: If Prostate Specific Antigen 0.086 <4.0 ug/L is your PSA in your surgical path report, you should keep in mind that PSA has something like a 2-3 day half life in the blood. You can actually make up a spread sheet to see what your progress should look like in estimated terms.
Yours would look something like this...assuming surgery yesterday. This is why a lot of docs say wait three mos before the next PSA. I was trying to get back to work and needed to get to <.2 so I followed it a little closer. Thee are some great posts here regarding PSA info if you look around some more.

Date Expected PSA
11/21/22 0.400
11/24/22 0.200
11/27/22 0.100
11/30/22 0.050
12/03/22 0.025
12/06/22 0.013
12/09/22 0.006

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Replies to "It is another determining factor in trying to figure out if you have Prostate Cancer, that..."

Hi @web265

Sorry, I forgot to mention that my surgery was done on 15-Feb-2022. And PSA test was done after six weeks, and it was 0.017. After 4 Months, it came to 0.075, and I went again on 20-Oct-2022, which came to 0.086.