Very high PSA
Posted , 33 users are following.
My fiance, almost 70, has had excellent health his entire life...never hospitalized, no sutgery..just never ill. He has been athletic and is still strong and energetic. He has had restricted urine flow for past year, but no pain. His gp ordered Psa and when it was still 137, referred him to urologist and diagnosed him with BPH. Physician assistant did DRE and noted one spot and set him up for biopsy. He and I researched thoroughly and there is so much conflicting information on internet. He decided to cancel biopsy and scheduled his appointment with more experienced dr in group. Before that appointment he had another PSA and it dropped to 107. He had changed his diet in that interim.When we went to Dr appt we were prepared with so many questions. We just got even more confused and distraught. Dr did another DRE and found prostate only somewhat enlarged and found one or two unusual spots. He admitted he had never seen such a high PSA. Of course the dr wants to do a biopsy, which is scheduled for later this month. He told us that he likely had stage 3 or 4 cancer and purpose of biopsy was to determine what kind of cancer. He admitted he would certainly recommend removing prostate and then radiation and/or chemotherapy. We begged him to order the tests like ultrasound and or bone scan and blood tests to determine if cancer had metasticized without undergoing the risks of biopsy, especially at his age. He refused.
Can anyone give us ideas as to what might cause the high PSA other than cancer. These are our concerns. It appears that just about every 70 year old has cancer cells in prostate as the prostate seems to be vulnerable to chronic health issues, maybe due to proximity to colon (he has been extremely constipated for same year as restricted urine). Other than urine flow issues he is very healthy. We have heard that cadmium is directly related to prostate issues but dr is not interested in etiology of issues. Also, he has had clow Testosterone for two decades, together with extreme loss of hair on legs, and chronic ED, and sometimes blood in ejaculate. We have learned that low Testosterone leads to prostate issues but Drs don't seem to pay any attention to it...but to us, the signs and symptoms are possibly related to some problem that is causing the unusual PSA. We just don't want to fall headlong into a prostate cancer treatment if the real cause is something like a glandular or brain driven hormonal slump that drives up PSA.
Does anyone have experience with these outrageous psa numbers, How can we get dr to order tests to determine spread of any prostate cancer without risks of invasive surgery.
1 like, 37 replies
indogolf jj1003
Posted
Just found out last month that my PSA level was 69. I went to several urologist and insisted having biopsy. I refused to have biopsy due to many different factors. I finally decided to have Prostate MRI. I was in shock when they told me I had cancer. Instead of having another painful test "BIOPSY", I have decided to continue having treatment with medications.
These are the medicines I'm having:
1. Prostacom
2. Harnal Ocas 400 micrograms
3. Casodex
I met several patient at the hospital who has been treated for their prostate cancer for the last 20 years and still living normally. Please do not get stressed out and enjoy your life as usual.
hank1953 indogolf
Posted
geoff90305 indogolf
Posted
When you had the MRI, they would have provided a PIRAD score and if the images displayed caused the Radiologist to state you had prostate cancer, they would usually provide the location(s) and size and if it had spread outside of the prostate.
If and when you had a biopsy, it would allow the pathologist to determine a 'score' for the type of cancer you have, eg, slow>6, medium<8 or aggressive>8 and enable a better decision regarding treatment options. Some cancers are slow and no treatment is required, others require action.
Many patients have very different prostate cancers being treated different ways. It is super important for you to understand "your" cancer and what is the best way of combating it.
Geoff
ross15724 jj1003
Posted
I had a PSA that has risen from 9 to 100+ in a year. In that time I've had a biopsy showing 6 of 13 cores with gleason 6 activity. My MRI, and bone scans show no tumors outside the prostate, nevertheless, after several months hesitation I was convinced to err on the side of caution and begin ADT and radiation. What finally convinced me was the thought of ending up with an untreatable cancer ten years hence because I thought I was being overtreated.