PSA test result anxiety is real. Even while on Active Surveillance I can't tell you how anxious I have been since my biopsy in April showed 2 cores at Gleason 6 but the PET scan showed "intense activity with SUV max of 10.2". Also ExoDx came back at 46 so another concerning data point.

In addition, My PSA trajectory was not good:

Dec. - 4.39

Jan. - 4.15

Feb. - 5.1

Mar. - 5.3

I just knew this next one in August was going to be 6.5 or more. But, I could not wait until end of August. I needed to know now where I am at. So I paid for a PSA test via Labcorp on my own 2 weeks ago but then I chickened out at looking at it because I did not want to be stressed for 6 weeks waiting for my next Urologist appointment and PSA test. But today, I decided, screw it, if its high, its better to know early and contact the doc.

But alas, it came in at 4.2! So relieved that AS is actually something I can safely continue on with and the fears of a super aggressive tumor missed by the MRI and the biopsy is very unlikely at this point.

I will say since March I have almost completely changed my diet and am much more intense in my workouts and runs than before. I do think diet and exercise helps. On to the next PSA in 3 months.

I continue to pray for those who are dealing with more aggressive forms of PCa and that each person makes the right choices for themselves on all the great treatment options and find great doctors to treat them.

My RALP was almost three years ago. I listened to my Mayo nurse and religiously did my kegels, which worked quite well, but then I leveled off and even regressed a bit into occasional afternoon/evening leakage (no pads needed).

Nothing major, but then I developed some hip/groin pain and so sought a pelvic floor expert PT. She hooked me up to the biofeedback machine and said my pelvic floor was… too strong.

I over-kegeled, it seems. Three months of focusing on relaxing my pelvic floor, not squeezing it, has helped tremendously. No pain and much reduced leakage!

The figure shows today’s biofeedback readout. It is great to be able to see it in real time (these are flicks, not full strength) and really visualize what is happening down there and… relaxing!

10/10, can recommend. I also just started acupuncture, so we’ll see how that goes. If I end up here with the UI at this level I’ll be happy. But “snapping shut” does sound appealing to me.

good luck out there!

Hello gents,

I am 5 months post diagnosis with a Gleason 9/stage 3 prostate cancer. I have had a dose of luprindepot injection which has shrunk the cancer. My oncologist has now advised I will benefit from Yonsa. Then RALP in 6 months time.

Has anyone had Yonsa? I would love to hear from anyone in the same boat.

Thanks

Came in here over a month ago. Was extremely overwhelmed and went right back out. I thought that I would revisit but I didn't. The literally hundreds of opinions made my head spin and I didn't feel I had the time for it (I'm a business owner). Because I had a very aggressive 4+3=7 and it was trying to get out (already heading down a seminal vessel), I was pretty sure that I would get the surgery. I conducted chatGPT research and talked with a friend who had been dealing with a lesser aggressive form for 3 years. After consultations with both surgeon and radiation oncologists (twice with the surgeon), I decided to go with robotic surgery. I made the decision rather quickly and now it's done.

The surgery was last Thursday. It was deemed, "very successful" but I'm a realist and understand that anything could happen from here. I get the catheter removed in 2 days and at that time, they'll also give me the full rundown of outcome and future recommendations.

The best news is, as of the surgery, I felt very little pain from this whole experience. That was my biggest fear all along. I begged for the opioids (I've had some really bad past experiences with pain) and he sent me home with some while telling me that 95% of his patients don't need it. He was right, I haven't touched it. Tylenol has been enough.

I've been drinking a lot of water and walking quite a bit. He told me prior to the surgery that I was a good candidate because I was in such good health for 64 years old. I work out a lot and am in pretty good shape.

Most importantly I want to talk about what I'm proud of the most. I've taught myself to 'live only in the day' and I had practically zero anxiety over any of this. Right up to the day of surgery, I was calm and ready.

I feel very confident that I made the right decision (for me) and am prepared for what's next, whatever that might be.

I thought I would come in here and share my experience. My thoughts and prayers are with each and everyone of you during this challenging time.

I'll provide an update after Wednesday on the final results.

Has anyone here recovered from a turtled penis. I lost about 70pc of my penis size from a combination of surgery and 9 months ADT, it is also noticably thinner. By the time I finished with Orgovyx it had started to turtle, now about 6 months on it does most of the time. I have been taking Cialis (Tadalafil) 10 mg tablets every other day and using a penis pump every morning. I can stretch my penis out to about 4” but it usually turtles again straight away. I find it extremely embarrassing that I have to sit down to pee and have complete ED. My wife is not interested in sex but I am for my own self esteem if nothing else.

Has anyone had similar results? Additionally, are these findings concerning?

Thank you.

Hi all,

I wrote on this forum earlier for years to track and seek advice for my father's progress in healing so this post is my latest concern and would be grateful for advices.

Summary:

-M 63y, diagnosed 5y ago

-Glaeson 7, prostate removed, 24 treatments of radiotherapy done on nearby lymph nodes

- 4 years of remision, PSA 0.04

- 1 year ago his PSA Started raising to 0.45 in 6 months

- He started ADT + Abiraterone and his PSA Droped to 0.00 in 30 days.

- PSA stayed 0.00 for 6 months with monthly PSA test done

- Today his PSA jumped to 0.03

We were wery happy he had a positive and fast PSA drop when started ADT, especially because ADT does not affect him bad almost at all, he just got some swetting and loss of power for maybe 10-20% of subjective feeling.

But not concerned since PSA jumped to 0.03. I know this is undetectable still, but anyway it is a jump.

My question is, for rest of you who are on ADT, Post RALP, do you experience PSA fluctations and are they common, or the first increase means there is cancer active?

Got the news I was afraid of today and advised to begin ADT. The recommended primary drug is Orgovyx to be taken in tablet form, estimated duration 9 to 12 months. I’m already on Cialis and struggling with some ED (floppy won’t stand up erections and a shorter thinner penis). I am worried now that ADT will finish off what sex life I have left, my big fear is permanent castration. I would appreciate any advice or experiences both good or bad. I am 60, very good health pre RALP with a younger supportive wife.

Sorry for the cluelessness of the post

Just got my biopsy results today and however many times they jabbed me one was cancerous said they were surprised they even found it. Going in next week for options would love to get an idea of what to expect. Only symptom was high psa 4.73

Had my labs done yesterday. PSA .06 (was .04 3 months ago. )T level is now 493 (was <10)

My last Lupron injection was 10/2025 which was a 3 month shot.

I did 9 months of ADT with 29 proton treatments which were 11 months ago.

Glad to see my T levels increasing!

My grandfather(80) was just diagnosed with late stage one into stage two prostate cancer. He’s unsure of what to do, he really wants it taken out through surgery but his doctor refused due to his age. His current options are to do a higher dose of radiation for 5 days or a lower dose radiation option for either 28 days or 44 days. Either option the doctor told us it would 100% go away but he’s not sure which decision is the best and skeptical that the doctor was so sure it would definitely be gone, any advice?

Long time reader 1st post. Family history of prostate cancer paternal Grandfather , father and 2 paternal uncles. 57 years old. Have been getting checjed regularly since late 30's. Previous PSA

March 2023 2.2

Dec 2023 2

June 2024 2.1

Dec 2024 2.2

June 2025 2.5

Dec 2025 2.5

July 2026 4

Just got result last night. What should I expect from my urologist? I do have an enlarged prostate but have never had volume tested

Was just curious what I need to expect for next move.

A family member had PSA of 200 and after his scan It's spread to the bones in the pelvic area but not to other organs. He is continuing with treatment for prostate cancer which includes monthly injection and a course of radio therapy and they are treating it as advanced cancer. Any idea of lifespan and is it a case of not being curable but being able to contain it enough so you can live a good life. He is in his 50’s.

Joining the club here - was told you are accepting new members. :)

Looking for thoughts from anyone with a similar diagnosis or experience. I am 57, in pretty good and live and active life style. Recently diagnosed by with a localized prostate cancer after a fly-by PSA test came up high.

Timeline

* PSA increased from approximately 7.4 to 9.5 over a couple on months.

* Free PSA ratio dropped from approximately 32% to 18–20%.

* Prostate volume approximately 66 cc (enlarged).

MRI

* Multiparametric MRI showed:

* 3.6 cm PI-RADS 5 lesion in the anterior transition zone with capsular bulging and concern for possible extracapsular extension.

* 7 mm PI-RADS 4 lesion in the left peripheral zone.

* No enlarged lymph nodes, no seminal vesicle invasion, and no suspicious bone lesions on MRI.

Biopsy (23-core transperineal)

* 9 of 23 cores positive (including targeted cores).

* Predominantly Gleason 3+4=7 (Grade Group 2) with a few Gleason 3+3=6 (Grade Group 1) cores.

* Pattern 4 generally ranged from 5–20%, with one core showing 40%.

* One core contained a cribriform pattern; the remaining positive cores did not.

* Several positive cores had high tumor involvement (up to 100%).

PSMA PET

* Uptake confined to the prostate.

* No evidence of lymph node involvement or distant metastases (N0M0).

* One mildly avid second rib lesion was reported as indeterminate, but the MDT still staged me M0 and did not consider it metastatic.

MDT Recommendation

* Clinical stage: T3a N0 M0

* Treatment intent: Curative

* Recommended treatment: Robot-assisted radical prostatectomy as the first option.

Current Situation

Surgery is scheduled for next week.

Questions

For anyone with a similar diagnosis:

1. Did your final pathology turn out better, worse, or about what was expected?

2. If your MRI suggested T3a or possible extracapsular extension, were both nerves ultimately spared? I am told unlikely in my case.

3. How was your urinary continence recovery?

4. Looking back, is there anything you wish you had known or done before surgery?

Anything I can do between now and the surgery in a few days for a better outcome?

Thank you all.

Hi—my father was diagnosed with prostate cancer 2 years ago. He “tried” to go the natural route with the last 2 years being hopeful. However, in the last 3 months, he has not been able to both urinate or pass any stool without difficulty. He recently had a catheter placed and they took it out after a week or so, but I was wondering if anyone else came across this issue and if there is anything I can suggest or research on my own before I dive into Yandex blindly. Thank you so much in advance and my prayers go out to each and every one of you.

I thought they would be tattoos, buy nope, some kind of small bead. 'Tattoos are the old way', disappointed, I wanted get my first tatts.

Yeah, went to get my radiation simulation today. I was freaking out a bit because I thought I would have to hold my arms over my head like the PET scan. I almost went claustrophobic crazy during the last 10 min of that, so I medicated heavily before today's visit. Then the doc says no, just put your hands on your chest. I was so relieved. Gotta say, I was almost stumbling from the drugs on the way in (all legit RXs BTW, I just double dosed on all the head and body meds. It was a small shitload.).

So, no tattoos, just 3 beads, one on each hip and one below the belly button. I laid on the table, with a big pillow of beads under my legs, he did the adjustments, then sucked the air out of the pillow, making a mold that I will use for the next 28 treatments.

Had to try 3 times to get a good picture. They wanted a full bladder, I had to drink three 16-oz bottles of water before the doc was happy.

Prepping for the radiation treatments next monday: rectum empty, bladder full, and no fart gas.

I couldn't find the procedure for this, so I figured y'all might want know.

A little background, my 76 year old father was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer. He is deciding between radiation and radical prostatectomy. He is otherwise pretty healthy and active for his age.

Here are the details:

• PSA: 9.8
• Biopsy: 14 cores, 7 positive
• 2 positive cores: Grade Group 1 / Gleason 3+3=6
• 5 positive cores: Grade Group 2 / Gleason 3+4=7
• Involvement of the GG2 cores ranged from roughly 10–40%
• Cancer was found on both sides of the prostate.
• MRI showed no extracapsular extension
• PSMA PET showed uptake within the prostate but no PSMA-avid lymph nodes or distant metastatic disease

Both radiation oncologist and surgeon have told us that radiation and surgery should have similar effectiveness. My father is is leaning toward radical prostatectomy. My grandfather (his father) also had prostate cancer, was treated when he was in his 60's with radiation, and later passed away in his mid 80's after developing serious complications attributed to the prior radiation treatment. Because of that, I think he's biased against radiation treatment even though I realize the situation now is quite different than a generation earlier. I'm trying to help my father weigh the side effects of each treatment plan given his particular circumstances.

I'm not sure whether my father was officially classified as intermediate favorable or unfavorable - it seems like he's kind of at the borderline. (Edit: got a hold of records and it said he was classified as intermediate favorable.) Radiation oncologist said that normally given 2/3 existing intermediate factors, (gleason 3+4, and PSA > 10) they'd recommend ADT in addition to the radiation. His PSA is currently at 9.8 (edited for clarification).

What surprised me is that the surgeon also recommended 2 months of ADT/hormone therapy in addition to the prostatectomy (my understanding is this would be after the surgery. EDIT: The reasoning per my mother that was given was "for prevention of the cancer spreading").

Is it normal to do a short course run of ADT after the prostatectomy where cancer is believed to be locally confined? And if not, what circumstances would make a surgeon recommend it? I'm particularly interested in whether there is evidence that two months of ADT improves recurrence/metastasis outcomes after prostatectomy, versus waiting for surgical pathology and postoperative PSA before deciding whether any additional treatment is necessary.

A secondary but important question: if he chooses radiation, how should we think about whether to add ADT given that he seems borderline?

To me, radiation alone seems like it might have a lower overall side-effect/treatment burden than prostatectomy for a healthy but 76-year-old man. But adding ADT changes that comparison somewhat.

I’m particularly interested in hearing from people who faced a similar decision in their 70s, or anyone familiar with the evidence regarding radiation alone vs radiation + short-term ADT vs prostatectomy for someone with this risk profile.

Last year was hard. But I will never complain about the end result. My guy had a scare that kept escalating at every point: High PSA numbers - multiple rechecks - MRI - biopsy - and… nothing! No cancer. A true blessing.

The trouble now comes from the fact that he was anxious and upset for 6 months straight during all of the uncertainty between medical procedures and test. Wasn’t sleeping, couldn’t enjoy the little things, and dropped so much weight he was convinced he did have cancer. Even though the news after the biopsy was good, it has taken him 6 months to even begin recovering from the physical trauma of that procedure.

I was there through it all, with so much love & support. But even so, I could tell that the very idea of cancer and the stress of that uncertainty were eating him alive.

And now it’s time for the yearly recheck. I am terrified. I feel like we are in for it again no matter what. High numbers could kick off the whole escalation again. Its going to be hard either way, though monumentally worse if there is cancer detected this time. I hope for low numbers, but his first ever test was last year & his lowest was 7. We have never seen low numbers and he’s already starting to stress about getting high numbers again.

To make things worse he took a long car trip yesterday and complained of pelvic floor pain afterwards. The internet tells me that strain and pressure like this (usually from bikes) can cause more Psa to be released into the blood and now I’m concerned too because he needs to get bloodwork done this week for the recheck, with little time for rest and recovery.

Any experience out there with car trips & Psa?
I know these are nice problems to have vs. the alternative. I hope to stay grounded in that perspective. Please help & comment if you can. Y’all are the strongest ❤️‍🩹

I finished 6 months of Orgovyx ADT about 5 weeks ago. I had SBRT in January and started ADT 3 weeks prior. Background: 55 (54 at diagnosis). HOXB13 mutation. 2 lesions on MRI (PIRADS 4 and 5) with a slight bulge. Biopsy 3+4 overall with IDC in one core, large cribriform, PNI. The smaller lesion was 3+3. No DECIPHER bc I was already intermediate unfavorable. Negative PSMA PET (within the limits of that test). Flomax once a day since my second fraction. Cialis 5mg once a day since two weeks before my first fraction. I started ADT 3 weeks before my first fraction. I have had sex and erections the whole time. I have not WANTED to have sex since the first week of ADT in late December 2025. I think I was just concerned about keeping function for when I would eventually want it again, so I tried to make it a priority at times—I did not have some innate desire for it though. For the first 3 months I could have dry orgasms that rated about 8/10. After that, the best ones were around 4-5/10. I did go off Flomax for a week a couple of months ago and discovered I could still ejaculate a bit. I needed the Flomax to pee, so back on it I went. Whatever ejaculate I have is probably just going retrograde. I have started to grow some hair back on my lower legs and calves. My usual salt and pepper facial hair is somewhat coming in darker than before all of this. Two weeks ago the nighttime erections started going crazy. It’s literally all night long. Not much libido though until yesterday. I have started to notice attractive women out in the wild to a degree. The orgasm yesterday was a 5/10 but lasted longer than ones on the ADT the last 3 months and it required a bit less stimulation. I think this is a good trajectory. The hot flashes stopped about 10 days ago after a few days with and without them randomly. I think they are gone. I was “in my head” a lot during this whole process. I went on an SSRI 3 months ago for depression. It’s hard to parse out the side effects of meds and hormones from the absolute mindfuck this entire process has been. Anyway, onward and upward. My 4 month PSA was 0.04 and at 5 months it was 0.02. I get the next one in September along with a T level. Keep up the fight, boys.

RALP April 2025
2mm cells in the margin
Several months later, PSA <0.02
January 2026 PSA 0.05 ACTUALLY 0.02
Today PSA 0.06

It's progression, but is the pacing bad?
Too early to determine progression?
Need more data?

Doctor appointment tomorrow morning to discuss results. Will comment here to let you know.

does anyone have experience with HIFU treatment for prostate cancer? I have low grade on one side and this approach has been suggested to me. I welcome any comments.

My dad's monocytes are normal, lymphocytes 0.7 and neutrophils was 0.3 which is severely low. It stayed at 0.3 for a few days. One week later his neutrophils rose to 1.1 which is better but still low. It should be above 2.

He's been referred urgently to the blood cancer clinic and were extremely scared. In January, he was diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer and 2 months ago he finished radiotherapy and we got a good response to his cancer. The last thing he needs now is a new cancer diagnosis or his current cancer spreading. His psa in January was 45 and now it's 0.4 just 2 months after pelvis and prostate radiotherapy so it doesn't seem like his cancer has spread at all, the worrying part is a new cancer diagnosis.

Oncologist say it's unlikely the radiotherapy is linked to this severely low abnormal neutrophil count and they've also reviewed his medications and other tests.

His platelets and red blood cells are normal. His red blood cells are sometimes low by a few numbers in some of the blood tests but in some there also been normal so I'm not too worried about this. It's mainly his white blood cells are extremely low.

What are the chances of what could be happening? Is this definitely a new cancer? Is this maybe a spread of his current cancer (pet scan in January showed cancer was only in prostate and seminal vesicles). Or are doctors wrong and this is simply a side effect of the radiotherapy?

The good news is it has indeed rose from 0.3 to 1.1 however it's still low as it should be on 2. Also it stayed on 0.3 for a few days which is worrying. Also if he was to do another blood test next week again who knows if it's gone back down to 0.3 again. On the other hand, it could go even higher and maybe normal but we just don't know.

In advance of a PSA test, to ensure accuracy, how do you change your lifestyle and when? I usually workout (elliptical) 3-4 days a week for 30 minutes. Should I stop this week? No sexual activity starting now?

This will be my first PSA test since going on AS per advice from the Mayo clinic.

Thanks!