1. < Prostate Cancer

PSA went from 3.9 in November to 4.3 yesterday

Posted by yeoldefogey @yeoldefogey, 2 days ago

I am 54 and have been having urgency issues off and on for a few years, and occasional trouble emptying, but no problems during the night.
I am seeing my urologist in a week. My physical prostate exam was normal.
My insurance deductible is $7800, but obviously I don't want to ignore cancer.
What do you think the wisest next step would be? Biopsy? I understand the MRI scan isn't more than 75% accurate?
I guess I am just scared and confused by all the contradictory information...For example, in 2016 a study showed the survival rate was 10 years regardless of steps taken. There was a Washington Post article on that.
I recently entered the happiest relationship of my life and we are having so much fun like honeymooners, and I'm terrified I'll get something unnecessary done that will mess that up.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Prostate Cancer Support Group.

survivor5280 | @survivor5280 | 16 hours ago

A more accurate PSA, more or less. It's 94% accurate in determining if you have prostate cancer versus a PSA that just shows you have elevated prostate specific antigens - which could be the result of several things that are not cancer - plus a PSA can be high with no cancer or low with cancer so it's an imperfect test, just enough to say "hey, something is happening" then the PSE says "ok, now is that something cancer?".

REPLY
yeoldefogey | @yeoldefogey | 16 hours ago
In reply to @icorps "All the advice below is sound It's early days But I took a stab at tour..." + (show)
@icorps

All the advice below is sound
It's early days
But I took a stab at tour PSA Doubling Time w the figures and times you provided. And assuming you first test was Dec 1 and last test Feb 20, that's 82 days. According to a PSA DT calculator, that puts your PSA DT at around 19 months, which depending on your Gleason score coukd put you at a very low risk of aggressive PC.
Need to find out more- but 19 montHs PSA DT is very good news.
Good luck!!

Jump to this post

Very encouraging! Thank you for doing that.

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jeffMar | @jeffmarc | 14 hours ago
In reply to @tango32652 "What is a PCE test?" + (show)
@tango32652

What is a PCE test?

Jump to this post

You wrote PCE test but I think you mean PSE test, which was recommended. It’s a relatively new test that is FDA certified that has 93% accuracy and tells you whether or not you have prostate cancer. Very useful for somebody with Gleason 3+3 to avoid doing a biopsy when this test shows no cancer.

Here’s a test Comparison check out what’s first.
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