PSA more than doubles in 5 months after biopsies reveal well differentiated cancer

chewbydo
chewbydo Member Posts: 10
in Prostate Cancer #1
Initial PSA 4.2. Had 24 biopsies with 1 core small focus (<1 mm) of adenocarcinoma; gleason 2+3 (56 y.o. good health)- had 2nd PSA 5 months later. It was 8.7 -- thoughts?

Comments

  • hopeful and optimistic
    hopeful and optimistic Member Posts: 2,339 Member
    #2
    Sex, bike riding, other
    Sex, bike riding, other exercises that massage the prostate can elevate the results found in the PSA...Even a hard stool can elevate. Is it possible that your doc did a DRE before the blood test. Additionally it is possible that you may have an infection that caused this rise. Eventhough the PSA is an indicator only, this is troubling news. I recommend that you discuss this with your doc.

    Have you had other diagnostic tests.

    As a lay person, I think that you might want to retest in 3 months.
  • Kongo
    Kongo Member Posts: 1,166 Member
    #3
    Gleason 5
    Chew,

    Gleason 5 scores are not often reported because it is so minor and your biopsy shows minimal involvement. It's very likely that you have an indolent cancer that is never going to pose a threat to your health.

    There have been studies where a large cross section of men who die for all causes have their prostates studied. They found that 50% of men in their 50s, 60% of men in their 60s, 70% of men in their 70s (get the trend here?) have indolent prostate cancer that is never going to pose a threat and never going to grow or metastasize. You may be in this category.

    A common cause of increasing PSA for men over 50 (in addition to the things Hopeful & Optimistic pointed out) is BPH. If your prostate is enlarged there could be other associated symptoms such as frequency in urination, a weaker urine stream, and getting up several times at night to use the toilet. BPH is not cancer and can be treated with some surgical and drug protocols. As the prostate enlarges as we grow older it presses against the skeletal pelvic bones and tends to squeeze out more PSA than normal. I would ask you doctor about the size of your prostate and whether or not BPH could be a source of your PSA rise.

    Another common cause of increased PSA is a UTI which could well be without symptoms. Any inflammation of the prostate area can cause an increase in PSA. Prostatitis is another malady that can cause an elevated PSA.

    Best to you.

    K
  • VascodaGama
    VascodaGama Member Posts: 3,641 Member
    #4
    Kongo said:

    Gleason 5
    Chew,

    Gleason 5 scores are not often reported because it is so minor and your biopsy shows minimal involvement. It's very likely that you have an indolent cancer that is never going to pose a threat to your health.

    There have been studies where a large cross section of men who die for all causes have their prostates studied. They found that 50% of men in their 50s, 60% of men in their 60s, 70% of men in their 70s (get the trend here?) have indolent prostate cancer that is never going to pose a threat and never going to grow or metastasize. You may be in this category.

    A common cause of increasing PSA for men over 50 (in addition to the things Hopeful & Optimistic pointed out) is BPH. If your prostate is enlarged there could be other associated symptoms such as frequency in urination, a weaker urine stream, and getting up several times at night to use the toilet. BPH is not cancer and can be treated with some surgical and drug protocols. As the prostate enlarges as we grow older it presses against the skeletal pelvic bones and tends to squeeze out more PSA than normal. I would ask you doctor about the size of your prostate and whether or not BPH could be a source of your PSA rise.

    Another common cause of increased PSA is a UTI which could well be without symptoms. Any inflammation of the prostate area can cause an increase in PSA. Prostatitis is another malady that can cause an elevated PSA.

    Best to you.

    K

    Probably benign issues
    I agree with the above comments.
    Your rise in PSA could be due to many factors other than cancer.
    Have your doctor given you any actibiotics/antiinflamatory medication ?

    You should start from there.

    Best of lucks.
    VG

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