PSA Test - with Long-term serial monitoring?

[ftwabeck3533]

PSA can be checked with or without "Long-term serial monitoring". LabCorp mistakenly ordered the one with "Long-term serial monitoring", then reversed after talking to my URO's office (at my request). When is "Long-term serial monitoring" the correct PSA test?

From LabCorp's website: "This test is intended for use as an aid in the management of patients following surgical or medical treatment for prostate cancer. Values obtained with different assay methods should not be used interchangeably in serial testing. It is recommended that only one assay method be used consistently to monitor each patient's course of therapy."

[radioradio]

Not a doctor, but having my prostate removed and now having regular (4x/yr) PSA tests, I want mine to be serial. I interpret the LabCorp excerpt to simply mean always use the same assay method in all future tests.
Bob

[ftwabeck3533]

Bob, thanks for your reply. I will have a chance to validate your interpretation when I meet with my URO on Thursday to discuss my latest PSA results. I may indeed ask for "serial monitoring" in the future. This will be my third PSA check since my Oct 2018 RRP. The first two were <0.007, hope this one is the same.

[radioradio]

Judging. Y the three place decimal precision, it appears you have had an Ultra Sensitive PSA test, sometimes referred to as uPSA. It is often used with patients who have had a prostatectomy to detect the slightest amount of PSA, which could indicate that some prostatic tissue remains.