Great news, I'm waiting for the results of my latest blood test.  Fingers
are crossed, and hoping for a less than .1 Cheers!

An excellent question.

After Lupron + radiation at the National Cancer Institute they told
me my PSA was < .2.  I asked what that meant.  They told me they
don't measure below that.  And that was NCI where I kind of expected
the most precise measurements anywhere - though it may be
a radiation related reporting thing.  With radiation, anything below
.2 is considered successful and differences insignificant, so
they may have more precise info but not consider it important
and don't report it.

(Incidentally, after the Lupron wore off the PSA went to
.8, so I'm sweating out what it will do in the future.)

I've read remarks here from some people that said they were
told that .04 is the smallest possible accurate measurement, with
anything below that undetectable.

I know there are different tests.  I wish the testers would
report exactly which test they are using and what they believe
its sensitivity to be.

  Alan

Congrats on the low score, Don!!
Keep on working on those Kegels.

Take care!  I wish you the best!

MikeH :)

Great news, Don. My doctor told me the lab we are using reports anything in
the non-detectable range as <0.1. I've talked with others who are getting
results from 0.01 to 0.1. So, I dunno. My first quarterly post op PSA was
<0.1. I guess as long as it stays down there, I a happy camper.

*My second quarterly PSA results are 0.01 down from 0.03.
*
*Asked my Urologist if the tests were really that accurate. He said
*absolutely. What do the rest of you think?
*
*Now if I could quit leaking : )

I think that's great! And as mentioned already, keep exercising with
Kegels and your leaking should decrease. I drink about 3-4 cups of
strong coffee every day, all week, plus I'm on HBP meds so urinating
is all day. Am able to hold it w/o leaking for a very good while.

Al
Please be quiet if replying via email,
flames will be deleted promptly.
I won't even read the whole message...

I believe that the tests will detect PSA in that range, but I know that
no test is 100 percent accurate --- there's a tolerance range attached
to every datum point, and I haven't been able to discover what the range
is for the hyper-sensitive PSA test.

If it's plus or minus .001 it's a good test, but if it's plus or minus
.1 it's a waste of money.

If your results are .01 on the first test, .02 3 months later and .04 3
months after that, are you looking at a 3 month doubling rate or just a
constant .02, plus or minus .02?

Larry

The accuracy of the test depends on the "type" of test and the lab doing
the analysis.  At Walter Reed the level of undetectable is <0.002 ng/ml.

(I'm down to 0.003 and working on it!)
DanR