Rising PSA years after radical prostatectomy

Life IS worth it and cancer is life threatening. I am very much in favor of an aggressive approach to prolong a quality life, mine and others, even if the steps are unpleasant and inconvenient. Best of luck to you all.

How di you go from Stage 4 which is incurable to clear please? What pills, or treatment

Stage 4 denotes that the cancer has spread beyond locally to distant locations. My doc started with Lupron(ADT therapy) which I am still using. They soon added chemotherapy (Docetaxel). Six rounds (1 every 3 weeks). My university doc wouldn’t do chemo (because “it’s not effective”) which was why we switched to Mayo about a month after starting Lupron. About a month after the chemo they did external beam radiation therapy 20 doses on my pelvic area and 15 on my hilar lymph node (chest). It’s very important that they do this in the correct order and in such a way not to damage your heart.

I highly suggest you watch Dr. Kwon’s videos. He is at Mayo and is internationally sought out for conferences and treatments. I think he has 3 or 4 on YouTube and or through the Prostate Cancer Research Institute (PCRI).

I also sought out a good natural path doctor (ND not an MD). I highly recommend reading the book “Starving Cancer”. The author did a ton of research in her battle to beat stage 4 cancer. (Not PC, but highly spread. The author is an excellent researcher. My ND also had that book.

We have come to see that most docs have been trained in the same approach to PC. We started at a big ten university system that has a strong medical reputation. However, we found that they are about 5-10 years behind our current treatment approach. I asked my previous doc “what is the prognosis for getting rid of the disease?” He hung his head and said “very low, very low”. At Mayo, the response was “I would be very surprised if you show any cancer in 6-12 months.

I hope this helps. We were in despair a year ago and have have a new outlook. We also met a fellow patient that was going through chemotherapy with the same chemo doc at Minnesota Oncology and was being treated by Dr. Kwon too. He had a PSA of 3400. Yes that’s right. My PSA was only 17 but my Gleeson score was 9/10, indicating highly aggressive. He had a longer, additional treatment plan, but is nearly clear.

There is hope with the right doc’s. Keep educating yourself and seek out the best help. Your life is worth it.

Amazing, I can't imagine NOT using the ultra sensitive PSMA PET scan. Unfortunately we are sometimes our only or best advocate.

prostae removed 2 years ago psa is 1 was .5 raised that much in 3 months pet scan detected 6 mil in one lymph node llast year shuld that rise be alarming DR said they can not do another pet scan for one year to see if it is still there just radition i want to wait 3 more months then take another psa test wonding if waiting that long is to risky

It really depends on what your comfortable with.

I'm more comfortable being a little aggressive. Your PSA doubled in 3 months, that's a little concerning in my book. (assuming it's the same test from the same lab).

+ the PET is telling you you still have active cells in the lymph node (assuming I understand that result)

My PSA went from 0.039 to 0.091 in three months and my PET was negative, my surgeon referred me to the Radiation Oncologist and I got started with him within about 5 weeks, and prescribed Orgovyx (ADT med)

I know it sucks, I was there too, but, if it was me, in that situation, I'd get started with the next step. Whatever you and your team decide that to be.

Best of Luck going forward!
Mike

A PSA of 1 after surgery is high. Your PSMA-PET scan showed the location of the cancer. The cancer is not going to disappear. I would suggest you should start salvage radiation sooner rather than later.

I am 75 and in good health. I had a robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy in 09/2020. I had right and left apex and left inferior positive inferior margins however no adjuvant radiation treatment. Gleason score was 3+4; pT2, pNO. The PSA results were: 12/28/2020 < 0.1, 04/06/21< 0.1, 10/08/2021< 0.1, 04/05/22 .05, 10/.07/22 .05, 03/30/2023 .06, 10/02/2023 .08. The PSA is slowly rising. My Dr. is getting Decipher test done so as to help guide what treatment might be needed in the future. My next PSA test will be 1/02/24.
Is there anything I should be doing between now and then? If the PSA continues to increase, when should I consider salvage radiation? If we get to that point, what kind of external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) should I choose? I understand that the various forms of EBRT are: 3D conformal radiotherapy, intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) and stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT). I put these questions to this forum because over the last two years I have been reading the posts here and I have learned so much from them. Any advice would be welcome.

https://www.pylarify.com/patient/about
This contrast medium was launched May 2021.
Then you might check out Proton Radiation.
wishing you luck

In re: Rising PSA

Had proton radiation therapy in 2010. Gleason 3 plus 3; PSA 6.1 For about 6 years not PSA indicators. then began rising slowly to now 3.21. No adverse affects from proton radiation (Loma Linda Hospital). What to surmise: Has the cancer returned or just normal PSA rise due to bodies return to "normal"?

Don't know for certain, but watching..so far in the last year PSA has risen just .7 (or 2.51 to 3.21 approx.).
Suggest from reading others...whatever is non-intrusive and healthy..scans and such might be the first step. I intend to have a scan should the PSA rise over 4.0. Cheers! RH/Florida