What happens after Treatment for Prostate Cancer?

Follow Up Visits

After you treatment for Prostate Cancer is over, you will need to visit your doctor so he can watch and check if the cancer starts to come back. Usually a follow up visit is given 1 to 3 months after your treatment is over depending on what your doctor feels is the best time. After the initial follow up visit you will be given a schedule of regular office visits to your doctor, when to get PSA tests and DRE exams.

After treatment to overall survival rate for patients is 99% for the first 5 years after treatment. Further at least 92% of men diagnosed with prostate cancer and treated survive for 10 years after treatment is complete. And for 15 years after treatment the survival rate is 61%.

Remember everybody is different and everybody's cancer will be different. Statistics can give you an idea of what the overall outcome may be but remember that cancer can return in some people. This is why it is extremely important to stick with your follow up visits and report any symptoms that might return right away.

If prostate cancer does recur it can either come back slowly or aggressively. Everybody is different and the treatments that are needed if your prostate cancer does return is dependent on your individual case. Most recurring prostate cancer is found through rising PSA levels. Recurring prostate cancer can be treated.

PSA Levels after treatment:

• Surgery - PSA levels after surgical removal of the prostate should drop to 0.05 or less. Since the prostate was removed and it is the sole source of producing PSA in the blood, when it is gone there should no longer be a PSA level. If PSA is found in the patients blood and rises after surgery it is coming from cancer cells that might have spread. If PSA is found but not rising it is possible that all of the prostate tissue was not removed during the surgery. It has been found that 75% of men who receive surgery to treat their prostate cancer will never have a recurrence.

• Radiation Therapy - after Radiation treatments the PSA levels in the patients blood should drop to a low point usually a couple of months to 3 years after treatment. It is not uncommon for a temporary rise in PSA to occur usually 1 - 2 years after radiation treatment. This is called PSA bounce and is a natural phenomenon and also harmless. Continued monitoring of the PSA levels will determine for sure if it is PSA bounce or actually a rising PSA due to recurrence.