John,

I take the good doctor at his word here.  I believe that a number
of men have posted here with PSA values above the minimum
measurable amount, but have not gone on to develop recurrent
cancer.

There are other sources of PSA besides actual prostate tissue,
and there may also be prostate tissue that still remains in your
body that is not malignant that could account for the very slight
amounts that registered on the test.

I know you are concerned about the fact that the number is
measurable at all.  Who wouldn't be?  A doctor who deals with men
with PSAs in the hundreds doesn't necessarily get very excited by
a PSA of 0.05, but a patient sees things from a different
perspective.  However, I think it would be a mistake to allow this
concern to become overwhelming.  There is a very good chance that
you do not have recurrent cancer.

The next step with a rising PSA after surgery is often salvage
radiation.  The chance of success of such radiation depends on
acting before the cancer grows and spreads.  If I remember
correctly, radiation administered to patients with PSA below 1.0
has a higher success rate than with patients above 1.0, and if
the patient is below 0.4, or maybe even lower, the odds improve
further.  So you would want to identify a recurrence early.

On the other hand, getting radiation right now might give you
very little advantage as compared to radiation 6 months from now,
and would subject you to all the side effects of a treatment that
you don't yet know you need.

I think if I were you I would want frequent PSA testing for a
while.  Dr. Brooks suggests 6 months to a year.  I'm wondering if
it wouldn't be good to get one more often for a few cycles.  When
my PSA went up after radiation, my radiation oncologist tested me
every month for a while until we saw that it was bouncing aound
rather than rising steadily.  Perhaps monthly is excessive, but
perhaps every three months is not.

The test is cheap and non-invasive.  If the numbers are rising,
you will find that out early and be able to talk to a radiation
oncologist while radiation is most likely to be effective.  If
the numbers go down, you'll know that early too and be able to
put your mind at rest.

Good luck.

   Alan

All sorts of organs in the human body contribute to PSA at these levels.