Diagnosed with Prostate Cancer Yesterday

Hello, it has been a while since I posted. I had one biopsy that came back negative. My doctor ordered another PSA and Free PSA % test and my numbers were worse. My PSA went from 7.5 to 5.5 in roughly 6 months I am 51 so those numbers were not good. So my Doc ordered an MRI Guided Fusion biopsy on October 6. We got the results yesterday and I have PC. I will try to post the #s later. This is all still confusing but it has been caught early and my doctor is great. We have chosen Active Survalance for now.

Phil,
Seems like you're composed - that's good. Take things one step at a time and stay with us.

Sorry to hear the news Phil. Hopefully you can stay on Active Surviellance for a long time

Sorry to hear that, but glad you already have a point of view on how you'll deal with this. Do let us know the numbers when you get a chance. All the best to you.

Phil,
I'm sorry to hear you've joined our club. We're here to support you in any way we can. Please post your biopsy results when you're up for it.
Richard.

I'm sorry to hear your bad news, Phil. Take care, hang in there, and keep us posted.

Hello Phil070 ~~~

You have found a supportive "band of Brothers" here ~~~ support, encouragement, camaraderie.

Our members can share advice, as needed. On this website, you will find a wealth of first-hand experiences, shared by our members.

You can read posts from present and past, simp!y by checking back into the archives.

I was diagnosed while still in my 40s, shortly after my 30th high school class reunion --- and so when I read your thread, I knew we had some common ground, as you are now just past fifty. I am stepping into my eighth year of survivorship, and share that HOPE with you.

Your diagnosis is now part of your life's story, but it does not define your life's narrative from this point forward.

You just got diagnosed, and it takes a while for that news to "settle down" within you ~~~ but you are finding your path and way FORWARD.

Stay active --- keep facing forward --- keep living life to the fullest measure --- keep setting goals --- and stay connected to family, friends, and faith ~ in whatever form that takes for you.

We're here to support and encourage you ~~~ stop by again ~~~ and we'll leave the front porch light on for your next visit.

Handshake, fellowship, camaraderie ~ from across the miles,
CYCLONE ~ # Iowa State University

Hello it's been a while since I posted. My Gleason score was 3+3=6 so still doing. Active Surveillance. My concern is my PSA keeps going up. When I was first diagnosed it was 5.5 in Oct 2020 in Jan 21 it was 7.6. I am experiencing groin pain (Dull not sharp bit it is consistent) and my doc stated there is evidence of perineural invasion. I am not sure how long I want to stay on AS I don't like the fact cancer is there. I am 51 so still relatively young. I know I will need to get treatment one day. Should I be concerned with the way my PSA keeps going up? My free psa went from 7.5 to 5.3 in about the same Oct 20 to Jan 21 timeframe.

Hi Phil. Can you give us details about your biopsy? Specifically, how many positive G6 cores were there, and what was the percent cancer in each? Formal AS programs at the major institutes vary, but for some, a PSA rise above 10 is one criterion for advising the patient to end AS and seek treatment. Of course not all men who could enter or could remain in AS choose to do so. I'm certain you'll settle on the best decision for you.

Djin

Agree with Djin, please post more info on your biopsy results. The devil is in the details...

What is your current PSA testing frequency? It might be prudent to be doing it every 3 months while you are worried about its direction.

Also tend to agree with Stephen - not only is the biopsy a bit of a crap shoot but the pathology evaluation of the slivers can vary depending on who is doing the microscopic evaluation. Making the decision to pull the pin on treatment is a tough one for a G6 evaluation and sometimes medical science doesn't help much. Usually you grasp for any justifications for proceeding or not proceed with treatment. Do you have family history of prostate cancer or similar cancers? Have you done a genetic screening for gene mutations related to prostate cancer? Just trying to give you some ideas to tilt the scale one way or the other. Good luck.

As others have requested, we could use more details from biopsy report. Pasting them here would be helpful. Your free PSA is concerning.

What did the MRI say? PIRADS scores?

When I was first diagnosed at Johns Hopkins, there were three biopsies in the first two years. Yes, that’s a lot, but they need to confirm that the lesions they saw on imaging weren’t significant cancer. You may also need another one within this year.

My advice is to use this time to research all your possible treatment options.

Those results sound confusing to me, but to be fair, I don't know much which I'm about to demonstrate.
Still a lot of info missing.
Does it make sense that one core of G6 would correlate with 16% capsule invasion, seminal vesicle invasion, perineurial invasion? Are those last three invasion items from an MRI? If this Information is correct and CONFIRMED, then active tx might be the best choice.
Keep in mind that most prostate tests are just hints (except multi-core high Gleason numbers).
Reading an MRI or biopsy slide is a subjective process so a second opinion or repeat tests might clear up any ambiguity.
I might mention, pain is not usually a symptom of early Pca, fluctuating PSA is common, and statistically speaking, at your age an autopsy (don't go there) would have a 40-50% chance of finding some Pca cells in you prostate.

Carl

I also had a difficult time reconciling one core of G6 with a 16% chance of escaping the capsule. I know you're in a difficult period with the change to a new doc, but if you're going to continue on AS, I think you need to get a better staging of your diagnosis. Hopefully this is something that you can do with your new doctor.

Also, unless the biopsy missed a lot of serious cancer, I don't see how there would be a connection with your groin pain. I can certainly see how you'd be worried, but the much more likely reason is that something is going on wit that other than PCa.

If your new doc isn't helpful in terms of getting more answers to you, it could make sense to find another uro. Depending on where you are, we might even have some suggestions for you.