Today’s (10/30/25) psa test

@jeffmarc Jeff, curious what the solution for the night time hot flashes are--currently taking nubeqa, eligard injection, taxotere and carboplatin for chemos--getting the hot flashes every night

@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.

@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.

@jeffmarc yes..my doc presented me with my latest bloodwork/ PSA today- < .02...said he was glad for me..I am undetectable..at least for now but said 24 months ADT ( after I finish radiation) gives me my best chance at long term remission/cure..I have just finished 4 months ADT so I guess I have 20 more to go..finally feeling like I turned the corner from most miserable summer of my life-PSA 70 and Gleason 8 w/ 2 pelvic lymph nodes involved...time will tell ...can I do 20 more months ADT ? gotta try !

That is fantastic result John : )) !!!
I know - I am perfectionist also lol, so nothing but 0.001 would "do" and possibly be "worthy" of yelling "hallelujah" , BUT we have to accept that nothing with PC is ever "perfect", not even close and we have to learn to celebrate great (if not perfect) results ; ) or we will go nuts, ha ha !
SO - remember where you started *hugssss, and celebrate undetectable PSA full sail by dancing and singing going down the street ; ) !

Having a PSA of .04 sounds pretty good to me. Definitely not something to worry about. Are you feeling better since you are off ADT?

@jeffmarc
Yes. My main and only problem is fatigue, and it actually got worse immediately after stopping ADT. Now, for the last 6 weeks I am certainly feeling better. Now I can hike up to 6 miles on moderately difficult hills at slower pace than before treatment. My testosterone is only 87!

@ava11
Testosterone takes a while to rise for some people, 87 is low But it is not abnormal for it to start coming back slowly like yours is and then start Coming back faster.. At today’s PCRI conference, they did say that the testosterone level will almost never get back to what it was before ADT but it can get close.