PSA Blood Test - Thoughts and Experience

SwingsitlikeHogan

SwingsitlikeHogan

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More specifically for gentlemen of a certain age (and really any over 40)

What with Stephen Fry and most recently Bill Turnbull letting us know of their prostate cancers - and with Bill Turnbull saying that he wished he had had the PSA test earlier as his is not 'curable' and that he now has a significantly reduced - and most likely capped - life expectancy - I have thought about having it done.

But as with many who consider any form of screening I find myself conflicted. Do I want to know that I have a significantly raised level of PSA and therefore that I may have prostate cancer - even although I have no symptoms...

If the PSA level is normal then no problem - if it is raised but no symptoms then possible problem now or at sometimes in the future. Do I really want to live with that uncertainty and worry?

As I have said - I am conflicted...
 
Yes I’d recommend the test. If your PSA is high you MAY have prostate cancer but you also may just have BPH. Both can have an impact on your life. If caught early you could control prostate cancer for the rest of your life and never become symptomatic. The longer it’s left unspotted the more change of it progressing out of the capsule of your prostate gland and that is where it becomes very dangerous.
 
Interesting this as come up as I was at the docs on Tuesday about a shoulder injury so while I was there I thought I might as well ask for a psa test ( I'm over 50).

Doc was reluctant to give me one his reasoning was that the test wasn't reliable enough .

Interesting link Spongbob put up (thanks) might look into it farther.
 
The way I see it, if you don’t have the test and wait till symptoms appear, then it may have advanced past the point of a cure.

I’d rather have the test and if it comes up with anything then that’s where the further investigation starts.

I’ve had the test, no hesitation
 
Sure I heard that you really need both tests, as the blood test wasn't a total reliable source of info - had both at my last healthcheck
 
Piece said:
Did I hear a story today that the PSA is not 100% accurate and can leave some undetected even though present, and vice-versa?
Click to expand...

Yes that’s true. The PSA level will only be raised if the cancer causes the cells that make PSA to proliferate. It doesn’t necessarily affect those cells.

And as I said above, BPH can cause those cells to proliferate but it isn’t cancerous.
 
SILH

This is a no brainier- get it done. My best mate found out on. Onday he had prostrate cancer, really fit guy, cycles, good golfer, played most sport. He was devastated.

I asked Doctor for further test but as I had one in 2014 he said it was every 5 years.

Have another friend now aged 60 who is riddled with C and his PSA was 350. There is no extra 0 there. He was given 6 months 5 years’ ago.

Just go and find out.
 
After a BPH op about 9 years ago, the specialist said have an annual PSA test as it's the only current screening test available. However, a raised PSA doesn't mean prostate cancer, and a normal PSA doesn't mean that prostate cancer is not there. The current news item referred to the inaccuracy of a single test - repeated annual tests after a 'certain age' are therefore better at detecting. If there's any doubt, see a GP for a test and a rectal examination. If they or a referral specialist think it necessary they will arrange a biopsy, but this invasive procedure is not done as a routine. As for me, my PSA has remained well below 5 ever since, and it certainly gives at least some degree of peace of mind.
 
Live fast die young.

My wife disproves of my view on this and similar ailments.

I do get the ‘you can catch it early’ line, but I don’t want to live a restricted daily life just to squeeze a few extra years out.

I’d rather try to live a full on life without any restrictions and not know and go with a bang. if I need to rely on someone else eventually to help me struggle daily through a day, I’ll be jumping off a tall building!
 
I would always say, get the test done!

It may be a cliche to some, but it is better to catch it early. In lots of ways it's a very complicated and has many variables. For instance, my first PSA test was 3.74. They said that a man of my age (60) at the time, it should be around 4.0. But then they said that it was an abnormal reading - work that one out!

Luckily for me though, I caught it early enough - see what I did there! After my operation the Surgeon said that my prostate was "Chokker block" with cancer. But it was still confined in the prostate bed and had not spread. This would make it much more difficult to treat.

As for symptoms, I had some but not others. One of the main complaints is needing to get up during the night several times - this was not one of mine though!
 
Old Skier said:
Get it done, you have nothing to lose.

Don't get it done and we might lose you.
Click to expand...

And we wouldn't want that here :)

Joking aside, my understanding was that an elevated PSA might not be indicative of prostate cancer - essentially a false positive - but by definition you won't know it's a false positive. And with some cases - as with Bill Turnbull - the test flags up something that is untreatable. So I could get an elevated PSA result with no symptoms but of a level that suggests untreatable if or when symptoms present. Do I want to live with that fear? That's the issue that was raised and that had me pondering. But i might have misunderstood - why I have asked.
 
Bottom line (sorry dreadful pun) question is I guess - rather than get embroiled with screening and the issues that false positives etc can raise - is it simply better to have a regular rectal examination?
 
Rlburnside said:
Interesting this as come up as I was at the docs on Tuesday about a shoulder injury so while I was there I thought I might as well ask for a psa test ( I'm over 50).

Doc was reluctant to give me one his reasoning was that the test wasn't reliable enough .

Interesting link Spongbob put up (thanks) might look into it farther.
Click to expand...

Exactly the same response from my doctor but I insisted and had a blood test. Never heard anything further about it so assuming all is OK. That was about 3 years ago so I'll ask for another in a year or so.
 
I've had the finger test 4 years ago during my yearly examination, after mentioning a slight a change in my waterworks dept.
Fortunately everything was normal , but i had PSA blood tests the next 2 years both between 4 and 5 , seemingly normal levels for my age group.
For some reason in my latest yearly check up they didn't think a PSA was necessary . I did ask the nurse , but was told the Doc didn't ask for it.
So fingers crossed :D :rofl:
 
I was tested the back end of last year in similar circumstances to you. I ended up having biopsies done and a confirmation that I have prostate cancer.

THE END OF THE WORLD ?

Not at all, it's low grade and may never need surgery. I'm being constantly monitored, in fact my nurse rang me today to chat over the results of a scan I had recently. I know I have it so I don't have the 'did the biopsies miss the cancer' thoughts in my head. The last thing that the consultant said was "don't worry if it gets to be a problem we'll cut it out and you'll be cured"

Just think of the poor souls who don't have the symptoms, don't get a check up and find out too late they've got it and it's spread !
 
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