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No. Prostate Cancer is not the “good one”
Prostate Cancer | Last Active: 6 days ago | Replies (53)Comment receiving replies
The noble PSA test — that quaint little bloodwork most men don’t get unless the stars align, the moon is in retrograde, and their doctor is feeling unusually proactive between golf games.
At first, you're told PSA testing isn’t “standard protocol,” because, you know, men’s health must always remain a delightful game of Russian roulette. “It’s not reliable,” they say. “It causes unnecessary worry.” Translation: “We’d rather not know, and neither should you.”
Then — surprise! — your PSA shows up looking like a bar chart from a horror movie. But suddenly now it matters. Now it's gospel. Now you’re having your PSA read to you like it's your credit score before a mortgage application. Weekly. Monthly. Quarterly. Is it trending? Is it stable? Is it climbing? Is it… you?
Before diagnosis: “PSA is unreliable.”
After diagnosis: “Your entire existence will now be judged by these unreliable numbers.”
It’s a bit like being told your brakes don’t matter until you’ve driven off a cliff.
WTF indeed.
Replies to "The noble PSA test — that quaint little bloodwork most men don’t get unless the stars..."
Recently a few gem quotes from an old high school classmate's oncologist. "Side effects of Lupron are rare" "but you have no family history of PC. " I don't recomend PSA testing for men over 70" "same for biopsies" WTF indeed! Myself diagnosed at 71 PSA 43, Gleasons 7-9! Quackery is abundant for sure.
SW
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My experience has been different. PSA was considered important. As for unreliable, I think they are referring to false positives - PSA jumps, but no cancer.
That happened to me several times. They wanted to do biopsies but since the best biopsies are MRI guided, I said "If the MRI is negative, why do a biopsy." And both times, it was negative.
Then last year it jumped a lot. MRI in Dec showed "60% probability of clinically significant cancer." Biopsy showed Gleason 9.
So I'd say that while PSA can give false readings that suggest cancer, in my case anyway, it was worth it - it caught the cancer early.
Now enjoying radiation therapy (actually, not that bad - i almost fall asleep during it), and the effects of low T (ugh).