Wisdom of the crowd? Got sent to a urologist for high psa, 12, was 11 in November, 8 in 2008 or so. Last go round the urologist wanted a biopsy, started all sorts of ideas tosave me. I declined and figured to buy the farm if need be.
Now up to the crap again. Bioosy scheduled in a couple weeks. I am questioning why. Quite apparent this is not fast moving cancer if at all. I know noone who had good results from intervention, several stories of ruined life. I am 74, was once told over 70 they quit looking as something else will get me.

Experiences? Thanks

IMHO you should let them check out your situation. See what they find and see what they advise. Might just have a quick fix. Good luck

In 2010 My PSA had doubled. I had a needle biopsy done and it was cancer. Gleason score was 8 (Score runs 8-10). I had it removed at Johns Hopkins. When it was removed 6 weeks after the biopsy the Gleason score was 9 possibly a 10. Got it out just in time. No chemo or radiation was needed.
Yes, prostate cancer is normally slow. Mine decided to move into the fast lane. Prostate cancer seeks to go to bone, and it is surrounded by it. I lost a good friend to bone cancer that started from his prostate.

Screw the biopsy. Had it done once and nearly ripped the bars off the bed. Every time that gun went bang, it hurt like hell. And no cancer. All because my doctor had me injecting testosterone and couldn't understand why my PSA went up. SMH.

I have problems with mine.

I'm Praying for you.

I have heard those biopsies are a MF'er. One guy claims he bent the bars upward due to the pain. Eff that, doctors have maimed and killed more members of my family than they have saved.

They must not have used any sort of anesthesia on him. I had three biopsies done on mine over the years. The first I had discomfort, the other two was painless and no discomfort after the procedures. I have high PSAs due to a large prostate, no cancer to date.

I’d for sure have the biopsy. I’ve not had one but will if my PSA goes high and my doctor recommends.
I have two close friends, one is a doctor, that had positive biopsy’s. Both were in their early 60s and chose to have their prostate removed. Both are doing fine seven years later.

I have had the biopsy done............. it ain't fun to be sure.

But it's not unbearable.

The first few jabs are an anesthetic which kinda sorta works.

It's not helped at all by the indignity of it all.

70, IMHO, seems a bit young to just toss aside a potential cancer diagnosis..

Been putting off dealing with this problem myself.

My pop had cancer in it. He was late sixties at time. Cut it out and all good, except his hard-on.

My best bud has it. Gets the biopsies yearly or bi yearly to monitor. Hurts like a bitch and expensive. But, like someone else said, it’s slow moving and he has been advised he can sit on it, for now. I think he is pondering next step. We are only 51.

I k kw my prostate is whacked, all the damn symptoms I don’t need to reiterate. But I am currently in a holding pattern if addressing it to.

I don’t want to give bad advice or impressions. I am the King Of Poor Decision Making, let that be heard. But I must say, I started taking ivermectin semi-regularly about a year and a half ago, post quarantine, and for whatever reason god only knows, my damn prostate ‘symptoms’ went from like a 10 to a 2 on the Schitty scale. No idea why. Been thinking about it and what other factors in my lifestyle or diet could have changed - not much.

I resisted mentioning anything about this through countless Covid and Ivermectiin threads because I have nothing to back it up and I’m no snake oil salesman. Just something I now think I might mention.

Good luck to you.

I am not a urologist, but it were me and I was 74 and if it has gone up 1 point in 14 years not so sure I would worry about it. Mine went from 1.5 to 5 in a year and I had mine biopsied in Jan. They did a free PSA test after the initial PSA and that indicated that I had an 18-24% chance of cancer and that is what precipitated my urologist to recommend a biopsy. Negative. I am 59. I wouldn't say my actual biopsy experience was painful but it wasn't exactly comfortable either. It was worse for me after, for about a day afterward my ass felt like somebody pounded a 2x4 up it with a jackhammer. I have another PSA scheduled for August.

Ask them to take the PSA again in 6 months or a year. If it hasn't gone up I'd let it ride, especially if you have no family history of prostate cancer. If you do, you may consider otherwise. You may just want the piece of mind of knowing one way or the other.

Everybody is different, just what I would do, if I were you.

Muffin
70, IMHO, seems a bit young to just toss aside a potential cancer diagnosis..

That's the problem. This is a long time deal. At 61 I forwent the biopsy as the promise of treatment would have cost me my job, hence insurance, and bankrupted my wife if the dire predictions came true. The doctor then was very much a money grubber. He started treatment before any biopsy. He,was quite apparently wrong then becayse 14 years later im still here. I knew second hand a man who spent 2 years undergoing chemo, radiation, castration, lost everything and died anyway. My decision then was to buy the farm.

I’ve had 3 biopsies, two ultra sounds on mine. The Biopsies aren’t all that bad. Pain is like a shot in the arm except it’s up inside. Girl up, go get it done, May save your life.

Good luck to you! I go to MD Anderson, a cancer center. It seemed the urologist I went to at first was only interested in money, cancer center cares about me.

Kenny, I'd say no crap involved. The Doc is telling you that the farm is still for sale and that he thinks the price is still too high. He is offering you a chance to avoid prematurely signing the earnest agreement and being committed to buying the farm. I know a couple of men who delayed listening to their Doc. They were forced to buy the farm and had no way out, even though they made delayed efforts without meaningful results. I also know several more who did listen, did receive therapy, and still were forced to buy the farm before they had planned. Prostate cancer is tricky, you (and your Doc) will know when your choice was positive or negative when it happens. That is only satisfactory when the result is positive and you are given another lease on life. No therapy outcome is known in advance. The Doc only knows the cumulative statistics for patients that match your profile. He needs a little more information, such as from the biopsy, to give you better advice.
So the question really comes back to you. How is the farm priced? Are you willing to pay the price? Are you ready? Are you a gambler?
The discomfort and indignity of the biopsy procedure is far less than that experienced when meeting one's fate at the hand of prostate cancer, and that may be only the minimalist and beginning consideration.
Iv'e had the biopsy, the radical prostatectomy, now in the middle of curative salvage radiation since the PSA has made a reappearance. I'm age 70 now and each step of discomfort and indignity has been relatively brief compared to extra happy and good years. The price for the farm was way too high for me and my family. Were there dark days? Of course, but they are nearly forgotten.
I might add that the Doc didn't proceed with any treatment advice until checking with my other oncologist about the status of that previous treatment condition. If that prognosis was not so good, there would have been no prostate therapy at all. I hope you can trust your Doc to make the correct professional call.

I had my PSA checked every year for an annual check-up. I’ve kept track of my PSA for several years, put it on graph paper and it was taking a sharp turn to the vertical. The first biopsy at 5.9 was negative. Whew!!!

PSA continued to climb and the second biopsy at a PSA of 7.4 was a multi-parametric MRI directed biopsy. They found ASAP…not cancer but a bad sign. With the climbing PSA, I figured it was only a matter of time.

PSA continued to climb and six months later, it was 17. The third biopsy found it in several cores. Gleason 7…nothing to sneeze at.

Had surgery in March ‘17 and PSA went way down but not quite “undetectable”. Dammit. A few months later PSA started back up indicating recurrent cancer. Almost a year later, I had radiation treatments every day for two months. PSA went to undetectable and it’s been there ever since. 😊

As far as the biopsies go, if the urologist hits the right spot with the local anesthesia the biopsies are embarrassing but pretty painless. If he misses…YEEEOOOOW! If you go through with the biopsy, if it really hurts, tell him and don’t suffer and he’ll give some more lidocaine. My first was pretty painless. The second was ok ‘til about half way through it. I knew it wasn’t supposed to be that bad so I spoke up and he said, “sorry, let’s use a little more anesthetic”. On the third, it was bad on the first couple of cores. I spoke up and he gave some lidocaine and then it was ok from there with 24 samples….not fun.

As we age, the prostate grows so one can expect the PSA to go up but it should be pretty much a linear increase. The high PSA of 12 is up there and the first thing the doc usually does is to give a 30 day antibiotic prescription to eliminate the possibility of a urinary tract infection. If the PSA goes down, that’s a good sign that it’s a UTI and they can go after that. If the PSA doesn’t go down, there may be something more at play.

At your age PSA should be much lower but at 12, it’s something to think about but then again, 1 point over 12 years is a pretty slow increase. I find it hard to believe the urologist hasn’t recommended a biopsy earlier. Do your research so you can make a good decision.

Hard for me to trust anyone in the medical field. Most doctors have expensive habits that someone has to pay for.

They usually want to do a biopsy when your number gets over 4

I know. Mine was over 6 at 47 years old. The Dr. wouldn't even answer questions. He flat out said it's Cancer and walked out while I was talking. That was 6 years ago. I have no symptoms.

I can't believe that no one has mentioned why they stopped PSA tests years ago. Google it and read the reports.

My grandfather died from treatment for what they claimed was prostate cancer at 74. He was fine and healthy as a horse. The treatment gave him Leukemia.

This is right. My PSA jumped from a 4.3 to 5.5 in 6 months. Had a biopsy and 3 out of 12 samples were positive. Went through radiation and after a year, PSA is 1. I will agree if the urologist uses anesthesia taking the samples isn't a bug thing. Getting the probe up your backside is worse, but short lived.

The thing about prostate cancer is that it affects each person somewhat differently. One of brothers was diagnosed with it at age 62, he had his removed, and four years later seems to be doing fine. My best friend found out at age 55 that he had the advanced version of prostate cancer. He had his prostate removed, had radiation afterwards, and was declared good to go..............only he wasn't. He had been fighting it ever since, and it has spread to various parts of his body. He has been in and out of treatment for the past few years, and has undergone and is still undergoing chemo. It has really taken a toll on him both mentally and physically. He is basically buying time.

Don't mess around with something that can kill you. Get second, and even third opinions, but do something about it. The earlier you find it, the better your chances of beating it.

Like mfast and navlav8r I had a radical prostatectomy after a biopsy found cancer in the prostate. After initial undetectable PSA several months after surgery my PSA level, while still under .1, is doubling every six months most likely indicating a re-occurrence. I expect to begin radiation treatments after the next test if the PSA rises again, which is likely. I am contemplating the taking Ivermectin to see what happens.

I just turned 60 and expect to make it my early 80's if I can beat this crap. While I do not recall much discomfort from the biopsy the worst part about the whole process was the catheter for two weeks following the surgery. If you have successful treatment you wont even recall the discomfort/annoyance six months after it's over. I have friends that let cancer take them rather than treating it, in their final days they wished they had made treatment attempts, but of course it was too late at that point.

Tag

Hank

I have had prostate cancer for 8 years (I'm 64), Gleason score of 6 determined through two biopsies. The biopsies are no big deal, I would get it. My doctor recommended that we monitor the cancer and if the Gleason score stays the same, nothing will be done treatment wise. I get a PSA test and digital exam every 3 months, my PSS goes from .6 to 1.

My doctor scheduled an MRI of my prostate which was denied by my insurance company. I was a 9/11 first responder and I'm in their health care program also and will get the MRI through them, fingers crossed.

Bottom line is get the biopsy, it's no big deal, takes less than an hour. While prostate cancer can be slow moving, if it moves, it goes to your bones which if you get it isn't good.

Good luck and God Bless.
I

kennyd, please get the biopsy. They are really not that big a deal. Just have your mindset right when you go in - "I've got this". Your doctors need that to determine where you're at in progression of the disease and location of the cancer. You do not want it getting into your bones or lymph nodes. I've had at least 5 biopsies. 3 MRI's, CT scans, full body bone scans. 2 Gleasons - last one 7. Like navlav8r, my PSA kept going up with every test and finally reached stupid high levels. I've carried prostate cancer around for years and finally got tired of all the peripheral tests and "watchful waiting". Doing targeted radiation now. Going well, except for side effects that mostly do not include exhaustion. Hit the gym right after treatments every day.

Be advised. Some docteurs will milk you like a golden cow if you have great insurance and/or are on Medicare. Keep an eye on them and don't be bashful about speaking up and asking why they're doing each test and if there are any side effects. Ask me why I know..

Wishing the best for you.

The accepted "knowledge" is that if you are male and live long enough you WILL get prostate cancer. My former family Doc just retired and he has prostate cancer, so he was extremely focused on my own condition. I'm fine, but he was starting to see signs that worried him. No telling what my new Doc will say. At age 75, I may well have outrun the danger. We'll see.

My advice is to do what your Doc says.

And, get a second opinion.

Went thru this last year, had blood draw today, go back to the urologist next week hopefully the PSA numbers haven't moved I did have a biopsy last year it was very uncomfortable but doable said I didn't have cancer but we have to keep an eye on it because of the numbers climbing wish you luck and I'd advise having it done not ready to throw the towel in yet.

For those of you who have had your prostate removed, are you still able to have sex?

That milking for money worries me. Another posting mentioned the mindset of clinics. This one has a charge for canceling appointments or changing them. I looked up the doctor review, new guy and he is affiliated with Englewood Swedish Hospital. Those of you in Denver know how far and bad traffic is is from Watkins area to there. Wife is disabled so I depend on daughter for backup, and wife needs me. I am going to inquire about some place closer.
Thanks to all

yes

They still do psa checks if your doc writes a scrip for it. I had one a few months ago and will have another next month. As you mention, some docs quit requesting them for a while but then, a couple of years later, more serious cases started being detected because in that time, guys that had prostate cancer weren’t being diagnosed early. Then by the time they WERE diagnosed, their cases had progressed to stage 3 or 4.

In my case I had zero symptoms. Since my prostate was only slightly enlarged, there was no getting up at night, no urgency, no nothing.. I’ve known my doctor since he was a flight surgeon on base in the early 90s and he had prostate cancer himself about twenty years ago, so he’s very conscious of it in his patients. He sent me to a urologist when my psa went over 4 which was high for my age at the time. Even with me and my doc being on top of it, mine had progressed to stage 3.

For you aviators you need to do a search of “aviators and cancer”. The Air Force completed a study a couple of years ago and found some significant findings where previously, studies had been inconclusive. There are several articles on the findings in “Air Force” magazine.

The issue is a nerve that controls erections. It's very small and lays along the prostate. It's hard to find and protect. If it gets cut accidentally, you're done with the love life as it won't grow back together. Doctors are getting much better at it, though. It was a while back when I read this and I know advancements in the surgery have been made.

What’s your favorite finger?

About 25 or so years back my doc had be undergo a biopsy due to a change on my PSA readings. Turned out positive for cancer. I chose radioactive seed implants and they did the trick. I maintained a good sex life for a long time. Just shot blanks.

On another note, my stepson passed away from prostate cancer the had spread throughout his bones and at the end in all his major organs. Started out many years ago. He was a body builder type most of his life but early on he had pain in is back. I'm thinking he was about 30 and he thought it was from lifting weights. Tough macho type, he refused to see a doctor. Turned out his employer had changed health insurance for his workers and the new company require annual physical exams. He never said what the numbers were for his PSA test but they must have been through the roof. Turns out he had stage 4 terminal cancer and when I talked with his wife at the funeral, she gave me an idea what his last hours were like. You damn well do not want to go through that. He was only 56 years old when he passed.
Paul B.

My PSA is a little elevated and they want to do a biopsy so I guess I will, although my level isn't that high(4.3) and prostrate biopsies are over prescribed.

Better over-prescribed than under-diagnosed, don't you think?

Agree, Rocky.

If you are 70, you have a 70% chance of having prostate cancer.

It's worth getting the biopsies to find out GS and how many cores/volume is involved. That will drive your next decision.

check out DR. Ara Karamanian in Houston, TX.
His treatments are expensive, but worth considering.

That’s right. The rule of thumb says that…70% at 70, etc. but that’s any form of it, including forms that you can live with.

BUT, about 15% will have cancer that needs to be treated. If you have a first degree male relative that has had it, your chances go up by 50%. There is some thought that that if your mother or a sister has had breast cancer that can an increased chance as well. Being black also bumps up your chances.

No.
And all the guys I know who had theirs removed say no too.

My urologist wanted me to take the 4kscore test. I told him with PSAs in the 20s, My dad, uncle and two cousins having prostate cancer that I don't need a test to tell me I will eventually get it.

If you've got a PSA in the 20's, you've more than likely already got it.

My PSAs went as high as 27, really large prostates will run that number up. Three biopsies and two MRIs did not detect cancer yet...................

Good.

Cancer is Cancer. Don’t [bleep] around with it. It can be slow and it may have been in you for years growing. You only get one life and it is short.

I bet so

I'm waiting on a biopsy on a mole/wart behind my ear.

Waiting to do it or waiting on results?

Dad had it. He had the radiation seeds implanted and his PSA number went so low it was undetectable. He went on to live a long time afterwards with no change in his lifestyle. The dementia that got him was much worse.

If you were expodsed to Agent Orange, you may be at vastly more risk of highly aggressive prostate cancer. My PSA was monitored for a number of years, and when it persisted at only just over 4.0, a biopsy was finally done. Which showed a Gleasn score spread of 7-8 for the 12 punch biopsies, and a rating of highly aggressive prostate cancer. This resulted in a prostatectomy and 2 months of external beam radiation. Not a lot works well lately.

I think that if you were “boots on the ground” and some Navy units as well, it’s assumed you were exposed to Agent Orange and therefore at higher risk.