prostate biopsy

I am 57 and my prostate elevated from 2.5 to 3.3 in six months. I was taking Androjel for two months. I saw a urologist and ha gave me an exam.  he stated that he does not feel any lumps, however for my peace of minde I should have a biopsy.  just wanted to know how safe is prostate biopsy? How many days after that I would have blood in urine and stool? Concern about the blood infection.  Any other problem with prostate if biopsy is negative?

Thank You.

Welcome to our corner of the world. The biopsy is safe. They normally give a course of cipo along with procedure to help prevent any infections, which I believe is somewhat rare with the procedure.

The biopsy is annoying and undignified but not painful. You'll see blood in your urine right away and it will last a week or two.

With your numbers I agree with John - wait six months and get another PSA. Then decide. A biopsy will confirm the presence of cancer but it often misses. I didn't have my biopsy until I had a clear trend of higher numbers in my PSA over a couple of years.

PSA can rise for so many reasons, I wouldn't rush into a biopsy until you've clearly ruled out all other causes - infection, BHP, using androgel, etc.

All the best,
Andrew

wait.....your doctor gave you androjel after a test showed you had a PSA of 2.5?  what was his explanation for the elevated PSA back then?

RP,

Welcome to HealingWell. A biopsy is a pretty safe thing, and I think John has it about right. Any of these procedures need to be done by somebody who's really good. Given that, it should be fine.

To answer your question, I didn't have hardly any blood in the urine or stool, but it was in the ejaculate for a few weeks. Alarming at first, but normal and not a big deal. Infection rates are very low if the biopsy is performed by someone who knows what he's doing.

That said, I'd get a second opinion before doing the biopsy. That's not an outrageous jump in PSA in six month's time, and it could easily be attributable to factors other than cancer. If you eliminate anything that could elevate your PSA and get retested in a couple months, you might get your answer. Even if the PSA goes up some more and your eventual biopsy is positive, it almost certainly won't affect any treatment outcomes.

If you have prostate cancer with a 3.3 PSA, it's growing pretty slowly. Now if it was 10.3, you'd be getting a different response from us. I know all this is alarming, but try to relax about it. One way or the other, you'll be fine.

Good luck whatever you decide, and let us know how you make out.

Best,

Jonathan

Post Edited (Jazzman1) : 12/3/2012 6:34:54 PM (GMT-7)

RP:

I was on "T" injections and after my biopsy came back positive, my PSA decreased from 5.5 to 3.7 after I stopped the injections.

I would go off the Androgel and wait a month and have the PSA re-checked. Also, most uro's also check the "free" PSA. If it's above about 25%, the chance that you have CaP is much lower.

I would do these things first and not jump at a biopsy. They aren't risk-free. There is a chance of infection afterwards.

CaP is very slow growing. There isn't much risk of waiting a month or 6 weeks to see what happens to your PSA. Talk to your uro. about this and see what he says. He seems too quick to want to do a biopsy without doing some other things first. Good luck - you are the decider, not your uro.