Welcome to the board! Several things are well-known for making the PSA level go up or down, and most of the time the PSA level changes it is not due to prostate cancer! Let's start there - with prostate cancer. Prostate cells make PSA, and that does not stop when the cells become cancerous. The reason PSA is a clue to possible prostate cancer Infection, inflammation, and injury can all trigger a rise in PSA. Possible causes for elevated PSA level include: Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). BPH is a common condition of prostate enlargement. As the prostate grows, it can press down on the urethra, causing lower urinary tract symptoms (or LUTS). After radiation therapy, PSA levels will drop steadily and may take 18 months or more to reach the lowest level (the nadir). Radiation therapy does not kill cancer cells right away. It may take a number of days or weeks of treatment before DNA is damaged enough for cancer cells to die. Then, cancer cells keep dying for weeks or months after A prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test measures the amount of PSA in your body. PSA is a protein that your prostate gland makes. Normal and cancerous prostate tissue make PSA. However, prostate cancer tends to produce it in higher amounts. High PSA levels may indicate prostate cancer. What makes PSA levels go down? What factors can impact PSA level? – Several conditions can lead to an elevated PSA level, not just prostate cancer.2 As men grow older, many are affected by prostatitis (inflammation of the prostate) or benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) (a non-cancerous enlargement of the prostate) that can cause PSA levels to . It’s anxiety provoking to have to wait for one or more repeat blood tests to find out if PSA is coming back down. Thankfully, a presentation by Monaco, et al. [iii] at the 2022 annual meeting of the American Urological Association offers some real clues—not red herrings—to help tell whether a rising PSA is more likely a bounce than However, based on previous studies, we can say that PSA levels in BPH can be included in one of three categories (2): Low risk: Your risk will be lower if you are diagnosed with BPH with a PSA level of 4 ng/mL or less. Gray area: If your PSA level is within the range of 4 to 10 ng/mL, some studies suggest you’re in a gray area. The risk is After a prostatectomy, PSA levels in your blood should fall to undetectable levels within six to eight weeks. Your doctor will want you to have a PSA test at that time. A high or rising PSA level PSA levels depend on age. If you have a prostate, your PSA levels naturally go up as you get older. But PSA can go up and down for many reasons. Most labs consider a normal PSA level to be around 4 ng/mL. Some researchers use a lower cut-off PSA level to help them decide who has the greatest risk of prostate cancer. The PSA level should go down significantly after treatment for prostate cancer. It usually drops to a very low or undetectable level within 2 months after a radical prostatectomy. But the PSA level usually drops more slowly after radiation therapy, taking from 6 months to a few years to reach its lowest level.

can psa levels go down