PSA Velocity

I can't answer your question but why should you have to wait "in suspense" until late August? Call the urologist's office, tell them you have anxiety about your condition and would appreciate it very much if they would fit you in sooner -- or at least call you if they have a cancellation so you could see the doc earlier.

PCa generally grows very slowly. Waiting a month for an appointment is very unlikely to be a problem. If you are concerned about moving quickly to address the situation if it is PCa, perhaps you should start looking into treatment options, facilities, and doctors. Then you can move quickly if the news is bad.

I can't comment on the probability that you have PCa with your PSA and one month increase.

I always thought PSA grew slowly. That's why the one month jump surprised me. If it were to continue at that velocity, it would go from 3.5 to 7.1 in one year.

Thanks. I'll check PSA 101.

Found it. Thanks!

I concur with what others have said, and only a urologist can tell you whether you have PC or not. My PSA bounced around like that, went over 4, came back under 3, then back up to around 5 before I was diagnosed through a biopsy. If it helps, my urologist told me that PSA bouncing around that much usually indicated a prostate infection rather than PC, though in my case I hit the low odds. But I didn't have the other symptoms you describe that might suggest a prostate infection. If you can't get in to see a urologist but are really concerned, you might see your regular doctor and ask for a free PSA test. I had that and the doctor showed me a chart that told me that for my total PSA and my free PSA my odds of PC were about 30%. As I said, I hit the low odds, but if you are interested in odds, that free PSA test could give you that kind of information.

Chaz,  PSA numbers can be quite variable for some of us.  My numbers were very variable with no explanation most of the time.  Check my numbers below and you will see why I am a big believer in check, recheck, and check again. 

Carlos

Date	PSA Level
7/26/1993	2.5
1/5/1995	5.1
2/8/1995	1.5
3/7/1995	3.5
9/12/1995	2.9
3/13/1996	2.5
12/19/1996	1.6
11/3/1997	4.2
3/2/1998	3.4
9/22/1998	2.8
4/2/1999	3.0
5/24/2000	3.6
1/3/2001	3.6
1/2/2002	4.1
6/27/2002	2.5
7/1/2003	2.7
7/2/2004	3.0
11/10/2005	3.2
11/14/2006	3.8
11/28/2007	6.5
12/27/2007	6.9
1/17/2008	9.1

Yes indeed, PSA velocity is very important. You should ask your GP to put you on a run of Cipro or some other antibiotic to rule out infection before you see the U-doc..Your symptoms sound more like infection than cancer...An infection can make your PSA number jump..As you can see from Carlos and myself, you can't draw any conclusions about cancer from a PSA test.. But when it takes off for no reason, something is going on..

You must live in a remote area if your choice of U-docs is so limited...

I would not be surprised if you have a prostate infection, those are the same vague pain symptoms I had on several occasions. I know you will worry anyway but the discomfort you are feeling doesn't square up that good with pc IMO. Good luck.

I would say the statistcial odds that you have cancer is 1 in 6, which is what every man has. How you factor your higher PSA into those odds is not my forte, but obvioulsy it will change the odds. Perhaps as high as 50 %.

I would also agree that based on symptoms and age, you most likely have some prosatitis of some orgin going on. Most men, particularly with low PSA's, have no symptoms of PC.

The real question that will need to be answered is , if you have cancer, how agressive is it, and is it local or systemic. Once your uro determines that with a biopsy, you can begin to worry.

Just relax ( I know you can't) as much as possible and wait for your appointment. This is not an emergency type of situation. Even after a positive biopsy you probably will take 2 or 3 months to begin treatment.

Good luck. Sometimes the worrying is worse than the treatment.