Prostate Cancer

Yes
I'll send you pm with more than you want to know.
It's not as bad as you might think

Hi

Husband psa was 14.7 when detected. Passed last year 18 years after detection. Find a non va urologist.

If 4.8 is your PSA score and your 30 there is trouble, if your 60 with that score find a urologist this year to get it looked at further and maybe he'll suggest to get biopsy. READ up more on PSA numbers you'll feel better about yours.

The actual PSA number isn't as important as how much has it changed over time. It naturally increases with age. That is why for us old guys they suggest an annual PSA test. Mine was 1.0 +/- a point or two all my life until right after my 71st birthday when it went up to 5.4 in one year. So my primary care doctor said let's wait 30 days and test again. It came back as 4.8 so now off to the urologist for a biopsy. Yep, I had it, but only on one side and stage 1. Bone scan showed no spreading. 40 radiation treatments later my radiologist said to wait 3 months for another PSA and he would like to see a 50% drop in PSA, so he was looking for 2.5 or less. At the 3 month point Covid was just getting started so he waited another month for the test and it dropped to 0.84. He was excited and definitely I was too. Another 3 months went by and another text came back at 0.3.

They will never tell you that you are totally cured, but time will tell. All looks good so far. My next PSA is scheduled for May this year.

Get the book “100 questions and answers about prostate cancer”. Available on Amazon. It will tell you most everything you need to know about the cancer and different choices for treatment.

mine has run from just under and just over 4 to 26.
all biopsies have been negative, MRI negative. If I need further action it will be radiation, either seeds or beam. NO TURP for me, I would go the UROLIFT way.
bumpy

I think my DH's was 5.1 and they requested a biopsy. Do the biopsy, Regardless of your PSI being suspect, the biopsy will reveal. DH had cancer in like 7 of 9 samples taken. Because of his heart condition, it was suggested by one doctor to "wait and see." That is a death sentence. A friend did that and 10 years later he had bone cancer and even after aggressive treatment at that point, he did not survive. Since my DH could not have surgery, we went to MD Anderson in Houston (we fulltimed so it wasn't inconvenient), and he had proton beam radiation treatment. At 10 years, his PSA was starting to rise by .1 every six months. They told him if it went up more, he would have to come back for scans. Sadly he died from other problems before that had to be addressed, but he did live cancer free for those 10 years after treatment. He was 60 when diagnosed.

My BIL was just diagnosed via biopsy. He is going to have surgery.

Dale

Personal observations from my prostate cancer journey.

Concern depends on how agressive and how much cancer there is. Some prostate cancers grow very, very, very slowly.

Elevated psa can occur from reasons other than cancer like infection. Nodule could be benign but still affect psa. Depending on age, 4.8 is near threshold for even detecting cancer. Urologist may order second psa test that reports free vs total psa. A formula based on the ratio will give a probability of cancer. My urologist prescribed antibiotics followed with the second psa test before recommending biopsy. The first urologist I went to was recommending biopsy from the first psa 6.9. My psa went to 4.3 after antibiotics, but probability was 50% so biopsy. Of 12 samples, one had cancer and 2 were precancerous. In second biopsy, of 12 samples only 1 showed precancerous. The way a biopsy is done doesn't lend itself to exact targeting. Three years later, psa is 4.6.

Biopsy is only way to know if there is a malignancy. We are all tough guys, but consider bringing someone along to drive you home. If you are that tough, you can leave the driver home the next time.

On the bright side, once cancer is detected via biopsy and under urologists care, finger detection exams are no longer necessary.

My PSA went from 4 to 7 in a year. I have family history, my father, and cousin. . . his PSA went to 19 and they forgot to warn him, in a year was a 38. You don't want the treatments that he has had over the last 15 years.

It also depends on your age. At 68, 4 years ago, we decided to have Da Vinci (the robot) remove mine after 6 of 12 biopsies showed prostate cancer, fortunately it was well contained. PSA is now undetectable.