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Getting PSA results with impossible fluctuation: What's up?
Prostate Cancer | Last Active: Mar 11 8:47pm | Replies (46)Comment receiving replies
Remember folks, the AUA recommended stopping PSA testing all together for nearly five years back in 2013. It’s still a controversial test that many western doc’s use like the Bible. Well, it’s not the bell weather, MRI’S, biopsy’s draw the picture needed for an informed decision.
Replies to "Remember folks, the AUA recommended stopping PSA testing all together for nearly five years back in..."
@harryo54 Actually, PSA testing shouldn’t be a controversial test - but too many people don’t understand it.
A PSA test isn’t a cancer test. The PSA number itself is similar to a “check engine” light in a car; it indicates that something may be wrong, and further checks should be made “under the hood.” Might be as simple as a UTI; might be BPH; might be more serious, such as cancer. Just need to have further checks. No need to panic, or rush to a quick treatment decision, or get overly concerned. Once the nearly dozen other things that might cause PSA to rise have been ruled out, only then should the possibility of prostate cancer be looked into.
Too many guys panic when they have an elevated PSA, think the “c”-word, and jump to radical treatment. That’s why in 2012, the USPSTF recommended against routine annual PSA screening in an attempt to try and stop the insanity: https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/recommendation/prostate-cancer-screening-2012
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@harryo54
As a result of this decision not to test, we are saying a greater number of people with advanced prostate cancer than ever used to happen. This was all done because too many people were treated when they were only 3+3.