Prostate cancer and bone mets with a low PSA?

I'm asking for a close family friend. He had locally advanced prostate cancer diagnosis a year and two months ago. A bone scan showed nothing there, but he had one lymph node tumour. He has had hormone treatment and radiotherapy. His last blood test showed his PSA was only 3.8. However, in recent weeks he has gone down hill rapidly. He has almost constant lower back and hip pain and now rib tenderness. He had night sweats last night and we are all very concerned. My query really is, would it really be possible for it to have spread to bones in such a short amount of time and would his PSA be that low? I feel like no matter what he says to the GP, he is fobbed off and despite speaking to 111 today and being sent to a walk in centre, he's been sent back home with basic pain relief. His oncologist is also not really doing anything in any hurry. 

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  • Hello Vicky_76 and thanks for the post

    I am sorry to hear about your friend and the recent pain and other symptoms he is now experiencing.

    Unfortunately no one here can say exactly what may be going on or if it is related to his prostate cancer.

    It sounds like he has seen a couple of doctors about this and has been given some pain relief which hopefully in the short term will help ease things for him. In the mean time it is worth him speaking with his GP again and updating them about his symptoms so they are aware and in case they want to run some more tests to find out more.

    If your friend has a specialist nurse at the hospital I would suggest he speak with them in case they can reassure him and put his mind at ease. I am sure the oncology team will run more tests and investigate further if needed but do bear in mind this doesn't always happen straight away. The important thing for now is that the pain is managed whilst the doctors investigate the cause further.

    Please get back to us if you need any more information or support.  You may find it helpful to talk things through with one of the nurses on our helpline.  The number to call is Freephone 0808 800 4040 and the lines are open from 9am till 5pm Monday to Friday.

    Wishing you and your friend all the best and that he gets some answers and starts to feel better in himself soon,

    Naomi

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