PSA Spike 1.77 to 6.96 in a year
Posted , 10 users are following.
Hi All,
Last year 6/2015 my PSA was 1.77. In March this year I had a Colonoscopy and doctor found that i have an enlarged prostate. This month i had PSA check and went up to 6.96. I'm wondering if the rapid rise in my PSA 1.77 to 6.96 in a year is somehow related to enlarged prostate or something else. Should i be concerned here? I'm 49 yrs old and so far have no symptoms of prostate problems like urgency or pain or etc. i'm going to seek urologist soon.
Any advice or information or what i should do next is greatly appreciated.
Thank you & God Bless
david
0 likes, 23 replies
craig84609 david90735
Posted
That is way to high for your age. I am a bit suprised that you don't have any symptoms of an enlarged prostate. I am 47 and having issues. My urologist wants to check my PSA and she said if it is high she will want to do a biopsy. I am going to pass on that for now. I think that one should have a 3T MRI of the prostate first as this will show whether there is something they need to biopsy. You may have BPH. You should at least have an MRI to see if there is a problem. Most likely the Urologist you see will want to do a blind biopsy first and that is where they take say 12 samples of tissue from different locations of the prostate. The samples are usually taken by putting the needles through the rectum into the prostate. It is not something I am willing to do in my case, before I have a 3T MRI done. Do your homework and don't go into this blindly.
david90735 craig84609
Posted
Thanks. I will bring up 3T MRI with my Uro. I'm just concerned that rapid rise in PSA is indication of some kind of aggresive cancer (i pray it is not). I read somewhere that increase of .75 can be low indication of PCa while anything more than >2 can be aggresive type.
geoff90305 david90735
Posted
Geoff
craig84609 david90735
Posted
All the PSA does is tell if your prostate is enlarged. It doesn't mean cancer, so try not to worry like I am. I get consumed by it and that is why I am putting off the PSA test until the Urologist and myself are certain that I am over the prostatitis. Not to mention she wants to do a biopsy if it is high. What about testing again in a few weeks. I don't get it. Oh well, I wish you luck and hope it isn't PC.
david90735 craig84609
Posted
Craig, i posted my updated earlier today. See way below this thread. I saw my uro today and he put me on 1 month Cipro antibiotics then check PSA again. Then we go from there. If PSA is still high, i told him about 3T MRI before biposy and he seems to agree that 3T MRI can help with targeted biopsy. Hopefully i don't need to go that far if the antibiotics will bring down my PSA. I will report back in early Oct.
MK51151 david90735
Posted
seeing specialist is good idea. Just to say, in my case I had normal PSA below 1 and normal DRE. Had turp in June and prostate Ca was found in prostate chips. Had biopsy 2 weeks ago ang another confirmation of prostate Ca but higher Gleason score 7 b (4+3).
Now, I have to take care of prostate Ca.
Yabbie MK51151
Posted
Hi MK,
I am on a similar pathway.
My PSA has been 2.4ish for years then jumped to 3.3 (My GP told me any upward shift of over .7 waranted further investigation)
I had a TURP early August. They found Ca in pathology (Gleeson score 6). Was that your score after your TURP?
My uro didn't want to see me for 6 months, maybe for a biopsy (I wonder if that's too long).
Just on a personal note, has all your normal functions 'got back to normal' since the TURP?
MK51151 Yabbie
Posted
my Gleason score after TURP was 3+3=6. My urologist wanted to wait 3-4 months after TURP to do biopsy but I talked to him how hard and nerve wrecking is to wait that long and he offered to schedule it earlier. It was done on Aug 11th with results on Aug 23rd. Biopsy confirmed Prostate Ca but with higher Gleason score of 7b 4+3. So, now I have to do something about it. I am scheduled for nuclear medicine whole body bone scan test and I plan to get second opinion before making my decision. To be honest, I am leaning toward surgery - robotic prostatectomy.
I did not have any problems after TURP; no urine leak, erecting are as it was before surgery. Only new is RE but sex is still very enjoyable.
Tybeeman david90735
Posted
mark_fastco david90735
Posted
I have prostate cancer with about the same reading as you have and I had no symptoms I feel fine. Sometimes a rise in PSA level has to do with something you did in the last 24 hours riding a bike for example can raise the level artificially. My advice would be to get another PSA test without riding the bike or having sex in the last 24 hours and then seek a urologist if it comes up high again. Don't panic there could be a lot of reasons and you don't know for sure positive until you have a biopsy but that probably won't be necessary if your PSA goes back down. Good luck
charles61038 david90735
Posted
MK51151 charles61038
Posted
yes, he is young but does not mean that he can not have prostate Ca.
His PSA spike is more likely related to BPH or prostatitis. Slow progression of PSA over couple of years is more sign of prostate Ca. For sure, it is warrant to see specialist and get checked. Better safe than sorry.
I am a bit older then David (51) and had PSA below 1 with unremarkable DRE ever since first one at the age of 48 but I was diagnosed with prostate Ca after TURP which was also confirmed through the biopsy on Aug 11. My Gleason score is 7b (4+3).
david90735 MK51151
Posted
Just saw uro today. He put me on 1 month Cipro antibiotics then do another PSA. He did DRE and said it's normal. So i will report back in a month and hope all goes well.
Thanks to all who has responded.
david
Tybeeman david90735
Posted
craig84609 david90735
Posted
charles61038 MK51151
Posted
Yes, you are correct that it could be prostate cancer at a young age. Just hopeing for the best. I had prostatitis several months ago - took the anitbiotics and my PSA went down to 2.0. But the biopsy that I had showed that I did have prostate cancer. 2 out of the 12 samples showed small percentages of cancer cells. 10% in one, 2 % in the other. The urologist told me I could opt for the active survailance, but I didn't want to chance that. I figured I would deal with it now while I am still in good health and younger than if I waited. I don't know if you are going to have any treatment or wait and see... but there are many good treatment options for low to intermediate risk prostate cancer. I chose Brachytherapy, the low dose radiation seed implants. After reading about many treatments, this one seemed like it was best for me. It is a one time treatment and you're done. Side effects are few, and not bad.. It has been 6 months for me now. I had my 6 month follow up with the urologist and my PSA is now at 0.15. It was 5.2 in the beginning. My gleason score was 6. With your score of 7, that is still not high and it is treatable. Research your options - and there are many. I can provide you some good websites if you like. Good luck to you. Charles
david90735 charles61038
Posted
UPDATE:
After finished 30-day Cipro anti-biotics, I had a followup with my Uro on Oct 4. My PSA dropped to 4.00 from 6.96. My Uro thinks it is likely an infection that caused initial PSA spike. So my PSA was 1.77 then 6.96 and now 4.00. See below. My Uro said that my PSA might come down lower once the infection begins to settle down and resolves. I will retest PSA again in 3 months.
Although the PSA drop can be good, I don't feel I'm out of the woods yet. I read some men have their PSA goes down after antibiotics then only to see PSA elevate again in 3 or 6 or 12 months. Also my free PSA is 18% which means there is still a 20% chance cancer can still be found which is a concern. So I'm taking the latest result with mixed feelings.
In the meantime, no biopsy will be done but I insisted on getting 3T mp-MRI and my Uro agreed is a good idea. So I'm going to have a MRI done soon.
PSA results:
April 2013 - 1.69
June 2014 - 1.43
June 2015 - 1.77
Aug 2016 - 6.96
Oct 2016 - 4.00 (free PSA is 18%)
-david
david90735
Posted
charles61038 david90735
Posted
David, yes by all means stay vigilent. It is true the rise in PSA can be caused by an infection. When I first went to the urologist with a PSA of 5.4, I was put on antibiotics. PSA came down only slightly to 5.2. Although I thought that was good, my urologist said not it was not good enough and suggested that I have a biopsy... there were no indications of problems as far as urinary function or anything unusual with a digital rectal exam. I had the biopsy done in his office which was not pleasant, but tolerable. That same week, the results were in. 2 out of 12 core samples were positive for prostate cancer. Adenocarcinoma, which is a slow growing cancer. After the biopsy, I developed prostatitis. That was uncomfortable, but not too bad. Ibuprofen helped with the discomfort. I was put on additional antibiotics for a few weeks. After that, my PSA went down to 2.0. But I still had prostate cancer. The urologist told me I could treat it, or do the active survailance. I decided to have ti treated and be done with it. I chose the low dose radiation seed implants Brachytherapy. The once and you're done treatment. It has been 8 months since I had the outpatient procedure done and I am pretty much back to normal. At my 6 month follow up, my PSA was at 0.15. I will go back in another 6 months for another check up. I know the situation you are in is stressful, but you are doing the right thing by keeping everthing checked out. Hopefully, there is no prostate cancer and antibiotics will clear it all up. Good luck to you. Charles