pc?

Hello. Welcome the the forum. Sorry you have worries but glad you found us. Hope we can help.

Unfortunately, you fall in that right-in-the middle category where it is hard to know anything. You certainly could have prostate cancer. Biopsies miss stuff all the time and while MRIs get better all the time they are still a bit hit-or-miss. I realize it's not that soothing but, if you can you should remain vigilant but not worry excessively about it. So far none of your tests has said you have prostate cancer.

On thing, you said...
as of Oct. 2014 on proscar and Flomax.
Dr. said if these meds don't help in 3 months he wants to do another biopsy.

Define "help" for us. Those meds help with symptoms of an enlarged prostate and they also tend to make your PSA go down. Do you have BPH symptoms?

Thanks to all, "help" of meds. Means shrink prostrate, now about 53.5g, and lower psa.
The main concern is the rapid psa rise.
Slight bph symptoms.

Thanks Andrew, what do you mean other causes to rule out?
Do you mean infection, etc. rick

Yes first rule out reasons why PSA might be high: prostatitis (infection), BPH, effects of other meds, bad day at the lab (by repeating the test and confirming the result), sex before the test, bike riding before, etc.

Sometimes a URO will give a course of cipro or something to see if PSA will respond to antibiotics.

In your case with suspected BPH, the meds should help. If they do then your doc will likely confirm the BPH DX and you'll be in monitoring mode for awhile.

Andrew

It's not a conflicting result. It's an indicator of prostatitis, which often doesn't respond to antibiotics.

Hi rpw612, - Here are some clarifications for you:

1) YOU POST: "Psa from Jan.2014=3.5-Oct. 2014=8.3."
MY RESPONSE: Your signature contains your RANGE of PSA results, but not the individual Total PSA's and Dates that are necessary to identify TRENDS. If they are NOT steadily rising, you most likely have Prostatitis (inflammation), since your Biopsy seems to have been negative (no Cancer identified) from what you Posted, although could have been missed (about 20% chance) particularly if small. PCA3 result very favorable for "no cancer", although not with certainty.

2) YOU POST: "free psa % done twice Aug=20% Late Sept.=24%"
MY RESPONSE: these cannot be done without also doing a Total PSA as well, since the % quoted refers to the relative % of Total PSA that is "Free" (unbound to other proteins). Both Total and Free must be done on the same blood sample at the same time.

3) YOU POSTED: "- -help" of meds. Means shrink prostrate, now about 53.5g, and lower psa."
MY RESPONSE: Since the "normal" adult male Prostate, unaffected by BPH, is usually between between 20 and 24 cc's, a 53.5 gram Prostate is, in itself, a very likely symptom of BPH (Benign Prostate Hyperplasia or Hypertrophy.) BPH is the natural, non-cancerous (benign) growth of the Prostate that occurs in most men after the age of 40, to widely varying degrees.

Incidentally, Proscar will usually reduce the size of the Prostate and also "artificially" lower the PSA by about one-half after 3 to 6 months of continual use. Therefore, the resulting PSA after 6-months, should be doubled, according to the manufacturer, when comparing findings to previous pre-prescription PSA results.

4) General Information: Anti-biotics are only effective against Prostatitis caused by bacterial organisms and therefore not effective against inflammation resulting from other causes, like viral infections, etc. This is one of the main reasons "Chronic" Prostatitis is often so difficult to cure and even to continually control. Even with antibiotics it must be a bacteria that is sensitive to the anti-bacterial that is employed.

I hope this helps your understanding and I will be happy to try and provide answers to any other questions you may have. I am not a Physician, so my comments are not to be taken as formal Medical Advice! - [email protected] (aka) az4peaks

YOUR ORIGINAL POST:
Hello to all,
Looking for opinions.
56 years old
Psa from Jan.2014=3.5-Oct. 2014=8.3.
Back in April psa at 5.4 had trus biopsy= all clear
free psa % done twice Aug=20% Late Sept.=24%
Pca3=8 on 8-1-2014
9/2014 mri of prostate= all clear. mri was not 3t because I had a total hip replacement this year, but was assured the pics. were excellent.
And as of Oct. 2014 on proscar and Flomax.
Dr. said if these meds don't help in 3 months he wants to do another biopsy.
Other hip to be replaced Oct. 23rd.

Just not sure what to make of all this, so many conflicting results.
Any wisdom would be appreciated. Blessings to all

Forgot Aug. 1st was the pca3 test: 8 but it wasn't the very first urine after DRE but close. Since they got a reading I was told the test is accurate.
Sorry for the star post.