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Update on my husband....

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Posted 6/14/2016 9:28 PM (GMT 0)
Hi everyone....I was on the forum about 6 months ago asking for advice about my husband and treatment options. These were his details:

His age: 49
PSA: 6.88
DRE: normal
Prostate size: "small"
Cores: 1 out of 12 positive, 14%
Gleason: 3+3

As a reminder we decided on AS (as was recommended by his doctors and almost everyone here) and we are SO glad we did!! He just had his 6 month check-up and his PSA is now 1.9!! I am a little surprised...I wonder if the biopsy actually removed all (or most) of the cancer?
Posted 6/14/2016 10:13 PM (GMT 0)
Allison,

AS is the correct protocol for your husband based on his stats.

I doubt the biopsy caused the reduction of the PSA number or cancer. I wonder if the initial 6.88 PSA reading was accurate. Could there have been any prostate inflammation or infection during the first test? Also the initial high psa could have been elevated by not abstaining from sex, bicycle riding, etc., at least 48 prior to blood drawn. With such a low yield of GS 6 the 6.88 psa seems high.

By chance was your husband taking antibiotics?
Posted 6/14/2016 10:46 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks for replying...Nope, my husband didn't do anything that would cause it to be high. That's what we initially thought but we racked our brains trying to think of anything and came up empty handed. No antibiotics, either.

His internist seems to feel he never had cancer in the first place and the biopsy was incorrect.
Posted 6/14/2016 11:53 PM (GMT 0)
Allison, entirely possible. Sounds like you dodged on at this time. However, It's not a bad idea to keep an eye on his PSA once a year.
Posted 6/15/2016 2:25 PM (GMT 0)
Good his PSA dropped. The PC isn't gone. Likely there was something else going on - infection that his body cleared up. AS is the right thing now, keep up the regular PSA test and likely that's all that needs to be done - but just in case you'll want to keep an eye on it.
Posted 6/15/2016 4:09 PM (GMT 0)
His biopsy slides are still available for a second, expert, opinion..You could have them sent to Dr. Epstein at Johns-Hopkins and see if he agrees with the original analysis of the slides..
Posted 6/15/2016 6:41 PM (GMT 0)
Definitely have the biopsy slides sent to Epstein or Bostwick - there's no point to him going through all the procedures and anxiety of AS if he doesn't have to. No, the biopsy did not remove the cancer. Big drops in PSA like that indicate relapsing and recurring prostatitis. It will most likely occur again, but now that you know to expect it, it won't be surprising.

- Allen
Posted 6/19/2016 10:28 PM (GMT 0)
I only mentioned the biopsy removing the cancer because that's what happened to my dad. His numbers and biopsy results were similar and when they removed his prostate, there was absolutely no cancer in it.

But to be honest, it's not even bothering us anymore, we rarely think about it. I only remembered to tell him to get his PSA checked again because one of my coworkers mentioned he was due.

We were so dead set on treatment when he was first diagnosed and thankfully we listened to all of you and the doctors who discouraged both surgery and radiation.
Posted 6/20/2016 2:42 AM (GMT 0)
See my stats. I've often surmised that the same thing happened to me.
Posted 6/20/2016 3:40 AM (GMT 0)
The biopsy core would have to have clear margins, almost impossible with the 18 gauge needles they use. I've seen Bostwick and Epstein downgrade Gleason scores from other pathologists. An incorrect path assessment is a much more likely reason. Or perhaps the immune system cleared it.

- Allen
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