advice

Hi all, I am a 45 year old male and over the last two years, I have had 4 PSA tests with the following results 4.7, 3.9, 4.01 and 6 weeks ago 4.88. DRE was done three times and first two were fine but third one felt abnormal on left node. Biopsy is scheduled for 3 weeks time.

Based on these results, doe s it look like i have cancer or could these readings be something else

Nobody here can tell you if you have cancer.

The biopsy should give you an idea of that and if you do have cancer, which is far from certain, your urologist will be able to explain what type of PCa as this is not one disease.

Hope the biopsy comes back negative. Let us know.

Cheers davidG

 

Hey davidg, thanks. nice to be able to share this with you guys, helps a lot, thank you

Thx Mike, nice to hear from you

welcome to the forum ! I'm a newbie to this as well and started my PSA spiking journey about 18months ago-- as I progressed to my second biopsy I found this forum so supportive !

I can't add anything that's been said.... try to hang in there... read a lot from this forum !

It's true... the biopsy is a little uncomfy-- but it's not bad really... I had two.... lol

wishing you all the best ! keep us posted !!!

Did your doctor check you for any signs of prostate infection prior to scheduling this biopsy? It could be as simple as that, and some strong antibiotics could push your PSA down.

Won't hurt to have the biopsy, though sometimes a single biopsy will not show PC even if it's there. Depends how many cores (Samples) they will be taking, and if the needles happen to hit where the cancer is located. I had 3 biopsies over about a 15 month period, and it took the 3rd one to find what ended up being a lot of cancer, the first 2 biopsies simply missed the cancer.

Hope you report back, that no cancer was found. Your age does work in your favor, though we have more than a few men in their 40's here with PC.

David in SC

eoink33 said...
Hi all, I am a 45 year old male and over the last two years, I have had 4 PSA tests with the following results 4.7, 3.9, 4.01 and 6 weeks ago 4.88.

Sometimes more important than the PSA value itself is the PSA doubling rate.

You indicated 4 results over 2 years so I am assuming they took place every 6 months.

So in 2 years your PSA has risen a mere 0.18 rather than doubled to 9.4. In fact it decreased once, has a modest increase once and then a 0.78 increase in 6 months, nowhere near the extra 4.01 to double.

You are wise to have the biopsy but chances are you do not have a very aggressive form of PCa if you have it at all.

I too subscribe to the knockout juice before the biopsy. The one I had 10 years ago without anesthesia I refer to as the staple test that just makes you have the urge to urinate. The one earlier this year with Cipro 2 days before and 2 days after to prevent infection and anesthesia was much better at test time, even though the result was much worse.

You have been warned about blood in urine and ejaculate, the latter in my case was color of apple butter for a couple weeks.

So far no one has mentioned that PSA scores can be skewed if you screwed, er not looking for rhymes here, rather ejaculated in last 72 hours, plus by bike riding or infection. So do take that into consideration before your next PSA test.

For whatever reason, your PSA however seem to hover around 4 give or take, which is a lot better than doubling in less than a year.

Good luck, and let us know how it shakes out.

LupronJim

I had four biopsies and never really learned to like them. If your doctor offers some sort of sedation as an option that would be a good thing to take him up on. You can get through it without anything -- it's more annoying than painful -- but it is really annoying. For my first one I didn't have anything. For the other three I had a couple of Valium that I popped when I hit the waiting room. I had to have my wife drive me home (doctors orders) from the tranquilizer, but I didn't jump a foot off the table every time the dammed biopsy gun went off.

Also, as people have mentioned, everything will bleed for a bit after the procedure. This was sort of an unpleasant surprise for my first one, when the doc was done and I wiped the goo off my butt I wasn't expecting the blood. Not a big deal for the other three because I was expecting it. You will have a little blood in your feces for a day or two and you may see a bit of blood in your urine for a couple of days, especially after you defecate. The blood in your semen will start off vampire-movie red and will fade over the course of a few weeks through chocolate syrup browns and mocha-late tans. You can expect to stain white bedclothes for about a month.

Biopsies take a few weeks for results to come back. Most guys are nervous as the devil. Feel free to come back and vent. It helps a little...

Biopsies are pretty accurate on the positive side -- if the pathologist says he sees cancer, usually it is there -- but not so good on the negative side; A negative biopsy means no cancer was seen -- it can't guarantee that cancer wasn't there but just missed. So if your result is negative your doctor will want to continue to watch your PSA.

Good luck, let us know how things go.

Hi eoink (cool name)--new myself- welcome! The biggest thing about PSA's is looking for a change. Someone can have a higher PSA from an enlarged prostate which is non cancerous. Bigger prostate, the more PSA production. Big Mac talked about infection-same thing-swollen prostate-more prostate to produce PSA. The change is the important thing-thats what triggered me for a biopsy. DRE was normal. Unfortunately, a low PSA doesn't mean you don't have cancer. A high PSA doesn't necessarily you do have cancer. Bottom line PSA just tells you whether you need a biopsy.

Being a human being, every fiber of your being wants the biopsy done NOW! and the results NOW! I was scheduled for 4 weeks after my first appt. My wife called every day checking for cancellations. Got the biopsy done in 5 days that way. I would suggest you give that a try. Biopsy procedure was a piece of cake. I actually barely felt anything. Try to stay busy as routine diverts your attention. We're all praying for a negative result for you. If it's positive, for men-if you get cancer-this is the best one to get.


Hang in there!
BTW, I am in healthcare and yes my urologist got grilled for 30 minutes. Ask all the question you want.

David from MT

eoink33 said...
Guys, you are all great here and i thank you all so much for your kindness and sound advice, its great to see. My first PSA was as i said 4.7 and 6 weeks later was 3.9, i was told to come back in a year, it was 18 months before i did and it was 4.01, then 6 weeks later , it was 4.88 and third DRE was abnormal. that's the history, maybe i am a bit OTT about it but its human nature to worry. Thanks again guys, i really appreciate all your info.

I had assumed every 6 months over a period of 2 years for those 4 PSA's.

On the one hand you are just getting back to your level from 2 years ago 4.7 vs 4.88,negligible.

On the other hand going from 4.01 to 4.88 in 6 weeks on a straight line basis would give you a doubling time much less than one year which is indeed worth taking a look at with a biopsy.

So you are doing the right thing and do let us know your result.

LupronJim