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Posted 11/11/2008 1:07 AM (GMT 0)
OK, this is probably a stupid question, especially considering what most of the rest of you have gone through. But I can't stop thinking about it and I guess that I'm more or less a pessimist, meaning that I think that I probably have a small amount of cancer that just wasn't found.

I'm 63, and my PSA history is:

2/18/05 1.7
2/17/06 2.3
2/23/07 2.0
3/05/08 3.4
9/09/08 3.9

So, I finally went and had a biopsy on 10/10/08. The results were no cancer, no infection, prostate not enlarged. So now what do I do? Because, if I do nothing then probably my PSA numbers will stay the same or increase and then they will want to do another biopsy. And as far as I can tell, they will keep doing this until they find cancer.

My question is has anyone ever had increasing PSA levels and not had cancer?
Posted 11/11/2008 2:26 AM (GMT 0)
welcome to the club drb46, I am glad to say you cannot be a charter member since you do have cancer, haha.

I have a friend that has a PSA of 6 and he does not have any cancer, he to was concerned and went to another doctor and had the procedures repeated only to find the same results. I am not sure I understand your anxiety, I am thinking you should be elated as to what the doctors did not find. Relax, enjoy life, and continue to have annual PSA testing.
Do hang around and participate. Trust me we are happy to see men that have been tested and they find out to be cancer free.

peace and love
Dale
Posted 11/11/2008 2:36 AM (GMT 0)

drb46 - First off, congratulations on no cancer found!  Regarding your question  "has anyone ever had increasing PSA levels and not had cancer?" I would say that "anyone ever" is possible but unimportant.  Whether or not you have it is all that matters.  The Prostate Cancer Research Institute web site (www.prostate-cancer.org) is a great place for research.  Especially since your PSA doubling time went from 3 years to a year and a half.  Finding cancer cells is much like finding the proverbial needle in a hay stack.  Lots of men have more than one biopsy before finding the cancer.  Lots of things besides cancer can cause elevated PSA.  Work with your doctors to eliminate possible causes until you get the answer.  I'm headed for my fifth biopsy this Thursday, but following a plan, not blindly repeating biopsies.  Good luck.

Boo

Posted 11/11/2008 3:22 AM (GMT 0)
My psa floated from 3.9 to 5.2 and back for 8 years before finally going up to 7.6 in 6 months, and being cancerous as determined by the first biopsy. I now know that my doctor and I should have been paying closer attention to the increased levels way back 10 years ago when it was 3.0 or so and still rising. We didn't and I was very lucky that nothing worse happened before we decided to look further into it.

If it were me, I'd do the psa test each 6 months and pay close attention to the changes. From there, all you can do is repeat the biopsy with a 45 core sample test the next time, to saturate the gland with core testing if it keeps increasing. I know some will disagree, but the chances you will have cancer is greater than you won't have it, with these slowly increasing levels. The thing not to do is to breath a sigh of relief and relax/ignore the situation.
Posted 11/11/2008 6:30 AM (GMT 0)
Glad to read the good news about your negative biopsy.  Many with a higher than normal PSA do not have cancer, but it's a strong indicator that you should be checked out in case you do, as you wisely did.  Keep close tabs on your PSA level, but in the meantime relax and enjoy your cancer-free life.

I had a biopsy based on a four times increase in the PSA from the previous year, followed by a retest three months later that stayed the same.  The urologist told me at the time of biopsy that there was a 10% to 15% chance that I had cancer, but the biopsy should still be done.  Well, lucky me, I won the prostate cancer lottery!

 

Posted 11/11/2008 4:17 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you all for the replies. I know that I should be happy with the results especially considering all that most of you have been through, so I'll work on it.

I did ask both my family doctor and my urologist about the free-PSA test, but neither thought that it was necessary. I think that I'll insist on it before the next biopsy. Also, I think that I'll attempt to insist on a PCA3Plus test before the next biopsy.

Anyway, thank you so much for the information.
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