Just out of Curiosity - Let's Talk Numbers - Age Related

Buddy’s Information:   Age 50, 2003             Complete Physical PSA 3.9   At Age 52, 2006                  January 5 th             Complete Physical PSA 5.1   January 24 th,                 (recheck) PSA 4.6 DRE - Digital Rectal Exam confirmed hardness on the prostate   Age 53 on February 2, 2006   February 7 th, Tuesday             Consultation with Urologist       February 20 th, Monday            Biopsy       February 23 rd, Thursday        Phone call to confirm findings Adenocarcinoma of the prostate T2a   Gleason grade 3+3=6          5 of 7 cores right lobe, 2 of 7 cores left lobe   April 3, 2006  Radical Retropubic Prostatectomy   No family history available for us.   You can bet there is history now for our 7+ males under 38 in the family.     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~       JustJulie ~ You rarely post.. but when you do ~ it’s powerful!!!   Thank you for staying close to “all of us”… we’ve learned and continue to learn so much from you.   Hugs from Lee & her Buddy

Hi,

Rick was diagnosed at age 67 with a PSA of 5.09 & a Gleason 8. Prior to being diagnosed  on 2-14-07 his PSA for June 06 was 2.54 His Dr. was shocked that he had prostrate cancer. The Dr. had done the DRE in June 06 along with the PSA due to blood in the urine and said that his prostrate felt small for a guy his age and he was not concerned about anything and sent him home on cipro. By Jan 2007 his PSA had gone to 4.98 and he not only had blood in the urine but also in the semen, thats when the Dr. repeated the DRE, and also did a test where they put a camera in and looked around. The Doc said everything looked normal but the only way to rule out cancer was a biopsy. Boy were we all shocked. Then further shocked when after surgery he was upgraded to a Gleason 9.

Hi, new member here and my first post.

I had my first RP 6 weeks ago, non nerve sparing. My age -- close enough to 63. PSA 5.7 and Gleason 4+5=9. Cancer confined to prostate, clear margins and lymph nodes clear.  

45 at diagnosis and when I had my RP. Although my margins were OK, my surgeon told me that it was very close to breaking out. So if I had waited till the normal testing age, it could well have been too late. I have an employer-sponsored physical to thank for that bit of good luck.

I also was interested after diagnosis in stats for younger patients and found it very hard to find anything. This is why I have posted my good outcome a few times here in the hope that younger guys can see that there is hope to avoid continency and ED issues.

In retrospect, I was not happy with my urologist, who took my "modest" PSA too lightly for too long. I've heard in the meantime that there are different age-related norms which he should have applied to my PSA. When I challenged him on this, he looked sheepish. I hope he deals with the next younger patient differently. I now have another urologist.

I started getting my PSA checked in 2001, at the age of 48... I started then because my Dad had just been diagnosed. In my case I could have gotten by with starting at 50 since it didn't jump until last year, so I ended up being diagnosed at 54.

Hi Julie, I always see your posting and want to say your NOT just Julie! I had my first PSA in 1988 at age 33, when my Father at age 70 was found to have Pca, he lived until age 78, and never had any problems from his prostrate cancer. So at age 33 my PSA was around 3.o, and my primary care provider gave me annual DRE and PSA testing, last June it was 10.0, and I made the decision to get a biopsy, so I could get more life insurance. The test showed cancer in 15 of 16 samples, yet three different Doc's could not find it with the DRE. So my life crashed in July with that news, but God, my family and friends (and this web site) got me through the Di Venci on October 9, with 65% cancer in the prostate by volume, but thankfully, good clean margins, no spread! I am urging my sons to be sure to be checked in their 20's, as odds are they too will come down this road.

Beachbum

Billy was diagnosed at age 53. It seems like more and more men in their 50's are being diagnosed, and in increase with men in their 40's. I would love to see a study on percentages of now vs. 10 years ago. And are more younger men having advanced cases.

I was 48 when diagnosed, went in for a physical and don't believe I had ever had a PSA test becasue I was not 50 yet and had no symptoms. The doctor thought he may have felt something, a PSA test that came in at 6.22 and the rest is history now 18 months later. I had surgery in January of 07 and just this week started salvage radiation. If I knew all this I would have asked to be checked at 40 but I became educated quickly and after the fact that I already had it.

Norskie

Tim,

In Ontario is it the norm, and it's payed for again. It's really a function of men getting around to booking annual physicals. At 40 or 50 the doctor will start doing PSA tests and DREs. When I found out this past summer that I had PC, I asked some friends at an annual golf outing in northern michigan if they were getting tested - Most are over 50 btw. Supprisingly 70% said NO, and they all had medical coverage (US or Canadian) and have high paying jobs. They just didn't like idea of being violated ;). They're getting tested now.

A few years back some polititians in Ontartio desided to save money when a scientific report disputed the need for PSA testing. They desided to stop paying for it. Luckly common sense came back and its covered again. It's really no different than HMOs in the USA. Some tests are payed for and some are not.

ok back on topic

Diagnosed at age 55.

I quickly went over the numbers on this thread and many other recent posts to get a summary of age when diagnosed with PCa. I found 68 of us. I am sure there are more if I go back further, anyway here is the breakdown of this group:

Age Range Number Percentage
36 to 40 2 2.9%
41 to 45 8 11.8%
46 to 50 8 11.8%
51 to 55 22 32.4%
56 to 60 13 19.1%
61 to 65 10 14.7%
66 to 70 4 5.9%
71 to 75 1 1.5%
>75 0 0.0%
Total 68 100.0%

My husband was diagnosed at 56. He started getting tested yearly at age 50. When we looked back at his psa's for the last few years we realized that there were signs earlier that should have been noticed. His psa in 2005 was 1.8 and it jumped to 3.2 in 2006. I think most doctors aren't paying attention until the numbers go above 4.

After his surgery, when the doctor was visiting with the family, he looked at my son and told him he needed to start getting tested at age 30. He said that insurance would not pay and some doctor's would not think it was necessary. He said he is seeing more men in their 30's with cancer and since my husbands cancer was so serious my son needed to start early. There was no history of cancer in my husband's family either. We were completely shocked when he got his diagnosis.