Michael
Cox lives in United Kingdom. He was 68 when he was diagnosed in November 2008.
His initial PSA was 11.2 ng/ml, his Gleason Score was 5 and he was staged T1c.
His choice of treatment was EBRT (External Beam Radiation Therapy) with adjuvant
ADT (Androgen Deprivation Therapy). Here is his story.
I had two biopsies
in April 2009, latter one confirmed advanced local PC but showed the aggressive
type.**1 Now
on three month Zoladex implant - so far for four weeks, - no problems except for
hot flushes at night. I continue to have my PSA monitored.
Does
anyone know what the reproducibility is like for PSA test results? In other words
what is the statistical error in PSA results ie, = or - how much? Is it 1, 10,
25 percent or what? My last three PSA results were before any treatment 11.2,
13.5, 10.5 but I see no reason for my PSA to drop. My GP does not know why it
dropped. This made me think about the statistical error.**2
I
am due to start my Radiation Therapy in mid October 2009.
Best wishes to
all,
Michael
Michael's e-mail address is: michaelcox2000@aol.com
Note
1: It is not clear why Michael was told that his diagnosis was of an aggresive
form of the disease. Gleason Score 5 diagnoses are normally regarded as indolent.
On the other hand Michael may have confused Gleason Score with Gleason
Grade. If his pathology report showed Gleason Grade 5 in both focii, then
his Gleason Score would be 10 - associated with the most aggresive form of the
disease - see Gleason Grading
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Note
2: The PSA test is not prostate cancer specific and can be influenced by many
factors. It is not consistently accurate - see PSA
101 [back]
