ramona2573 asked: My father who is 69 had a prostate biopsy last month and he is going to hospital for the results today. He had the biopsy done because his PSA was a bit high or better it went up quite rapidly in just a year from 5 to almost 8. Can this rise be […]
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My father who is 69 had a prostate biopsy last month and he is going to hospital for the results today. He had the biopsy done because his PSA was a bit high or better it went up quite rapidly in just a year from 5 to almost 8. Can this rise be just due to enlarged prostate only? Doctor said that my father has an enlarged prostate.
Also I have read that the results of the biopsy can be very misleading because if they ‘poke’ an area of the prostate which is healthy, you will be told that there is no cancer when in fact they may be cancer in other parts of the prostate which have not been examined during biopsy. So where does this leave you? does he have to repeat the biopsy every 6 months or so?
Thanks a lot for your encouraging reply, Bry C. It really helps at this moment! God bless you and take care.
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Depending on what the pathology report says… if your father has no evidence of cancer his doctor will probably recommend a repeat PSA in 6 months or so… possibly sooner possibly later depending on the individual doctor. The PSA can be elevated because of prostate inflammation so if he has any enlargement due to inflammation it can cause a slight increase but it’s not necessarily the cause. Most physicians take samples from 12 sites on the prostate… it is true if the cancer is small it can be missed… but the good thing about prostate cancer is it’s extremely slow growing and tends to spread only when it gets to the point where it is picked up by biopsy or the patient has noticeable nodules during the physical exam…
If your father’s PSA continues to rise the physician may recommend a repeat biopsy… the doc I work for will usually only biopsy someone 3 times and if it continues to come back negative he watches PSA trends and may suggest another biopsy a year later….
The good news is that if it is cancer it’s one of the most treatable types if it hasn’t spread. Most prostate cancer metastases to the bone but it takes a while for it to get that far. There are many surgery and non surgical options out there. You may tell him to write down his questions to ask the doc so that he gets a clear answer… each doc does things just a little differently depending on their training and experience…
Good luck!!
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#1. February 14th, 2008, at 2:34 PM.
Depending on what the pathology report says… if your father has no evidence of cancer his doctor will probably recommend a repeat PSA in 6 months or so… possibly sooner possibly later depending on the individual doctor. The PSA can be elevated because of prostate inflammation so if he has any enlargement due to inflammation it can cause a slight increase but it’s not necessarily the cause. Most physicians take samples from 12 sites on the prostate… it is true if the cancer is small it can be missed… but the good thing about prostate cancer is it’s extremely slow growing and tends to spread only when it gets to the point where it is picked up by biopsy or the patient has noticeable nodules during the physical exam…
If your father’s PSA continues to rise the physician may recommend a repeat biopsy… the doc I work for will usually only biopsy someone 3 times and if it continues to come back negative he watches PSA trends and may suggest another biopsy a year later….
The good news is that if it is cancer it’s one of the most treatable types if it hasn’t spread. Most prostate cancer metastases to the bone but it takes a while for it to get that far. There are many surgery and non surgical options out there. You may tell him to write down his questions to ask the doc so that he gets a clear answer… each doc does things just a little differently depending on their training and experience…
Good luck!!