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Confusing Messaging about Prostate Cancer
Prostate Cancer | Last Active: Nov 3, 2024 | Replies (76)Comment receiving replies
@northoftheborder
Yes! Great post!
A couple of years ago my PCP at Mayo told me that PSA checks were now being prioritized again after many years of downplaying the need to test by medical society,
He said statistics started showing sharp increases in late-stage prostate cancers. It did not take long to see that not doing aggressive PSA testing was not catching prostate cancer in preliminary stages with a much higher rate of curing.
So, your post is right on!
My PSA was normal 3.75. However, I have a great PCP and did not like PSA rising each time he tested it and so referral to urologist, MRI, biopsies, and diagnosis of early-stage prostate cancer.
Every doctor I saw said that I had a great PCP and his insistence on testing you and then referral to urologist allow you diagnosis in early stages with very high cure rate.
Replies to "@northoftheborder Yes! Great post! A couple of years ago my PCP at Mayo told me that..."
I remember having a discussion with my PCP about 15 years ago when they started to downplay PSA tests. He told me it was still the best test they had to monitor trends and he would not go away from it. I’m so glad he did that and I went in to thank him after I had my Tulsa Pro done at Mayo in July.
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I wasn't getting routine PSA screening, because my family doctor was following so-called best practices from the CDC and elsewhere — she has changed because of my case. (She did mention it when I turned 50 and we discussed, so I might have gotten it if I pushed).
I'll never know if it would have made a difference. From papers I've read since, my kind of aggressive PCa often develops so fast that even routine screening doesn't catch it before it has already metastasised. And I had a roommate in hospital, a Canadian Afghanistan combat vet who had been getting routine PSA screening (the army has its own medical system with its own best practices), and annual screening didn't catch his in time.
In any case, I can't change the past. I'm getting excellent treatment now, and telling everyone who has a prostate and is willing to listen to start annual PSA tests at 50 (earlier for people of Black and Caribbean ancestry).