My question is: should I proceed with SRT or wait? My oncologist has prepared the consent form for SRT. With a psa of 0.1, she thought that, while I am still in the safe zone (i.e. <0.2 ug/L), there is no point in waiting further and is proposing SRT. However, the 13/02 test result came back as <0.1 and she said there was no rush. My PSA is probably somewhere between 0.09 and 0.1 and different lab assays return slightly different test results, hence the confusion.
I know NHS will not trigger SRT until PSA reaches or exceeds 0.2 ug/L. Maybe the private health sector is happy to be more proactive?
NHS threshold is 0.2 OR three successive rises above 0.1 so my husband was referred to oncology at 0.12 and it was 0.16 by the time he saw the oncologist and agreed to salvage RT. That was through the private sector. I don't think it has anything to do with being more or less proactive - it is a scientifically based threshold. Any private practitioner who was rushing patients into salvage treatment earlier than necessary would be running the risk of being struck off.
One day at a time...
Hi Bob,
I'm pleased that there's been no further rise. I'd do the same as you and hang fast.
Good luck mate.
Thats good it hasn’t risen again and look at it this way….at least you have a plan B if it does rise which would hopefully kill off anything left.
All the best,
Derek
I don't post frequently on this forum, but I wanted to give an update. It's been a year since my psa has risen from <0.01 to exactly 0.10 in one go (well there were 6 months between the 2 tests and also a change in test assay at the hospital where I have my blood analysed). Since Jan 2024, I have had multiple PSA tests (at least 10) and my PSA has remained at 0.10 except once when it came back as <0.1 but it was at the different hospital (all the other tests that came back as exactly 0.10 are at the same hospital). I am not too sure what to make of it and neither is my oncologist. They suspect, at this stage, that it could be normal tissue regrowth at the bladder neck, which is what my surgeon said at the time. Who knows.
I hope you are all doing well and enjoying life, looking forward to spring.
Bob
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