Prostate Specific Antigen testing, not Palmetto State Armory. I have had no symptoms of prostate cancer, nor a family history of same. A visit to a urologist several years ago, which did not include PSA testing, revealed no abnormalities. Upon retirement at age 65 I applied for life insurance. The application included blood and urine testing that indicated an elevated PSA.

Apparently an elevated PSA does not always mean that prostate cancer is present, and it is possible to have prostate cancer without a high PSA. I was diagnosed with prostate cancer after a biopsy last month. I asked the urologist if he diagnosed many cases without symptoms and was surprised to hear that most cases were asymptomatic. The good news is we caught it early before it had spread.

The bottom line is if you wait for symptoms it can lessen the chances for successful treatment. It sounds like I may have been lucky in this regard.

Also, be sure to verify with your primary care or other doc they are actually requesting this test as well. When we changed jobs and moved to MS coverage changed from another BCBS to BCBS of MS. Turns out MS version of BCBS doesn't cover this (TX did) and they normally just don't ask for that lab along with all the others. I don't know how much the charge is, but it's not much and my answer was hell YES you need to run that too.

If y'all didn't already know, same carriers in different states can have different coverages, as can different employer plans under the same carrier in the same state.

Pay attention, be sure.

Neighbor went through this, 60+ radiation treatments, found it with an elevated PSA.

Doc says he's cured, but he seems to be the same ol crotchety guy as before....

Good luck, follow the doc's advice.

Glad you caught it. Unfortunately BPH can also cause high PSA numbers and the only way to tell which is to have the biopsy.

I met someone with stage 4 prostate cancer, his PSA was 70. He used an ablative treatment, plus Fenbenazole. When I met him, his PSA was down to 1, as in one. Pretty interesting story about Fenbenazole, a known often successful cancer drug. Further testing is not financially viable as the patent has expired. A drug company which spends million and millions proving the efficacy would never recover the costs, as once approved other drug manufacturers would be making generics.

A customer of mine had his checked and his numbers were high. Got it checked out and had growths. Had them checked and were cancerous. He was prepping to have them removed and they found out his heat valve is bad. He lost about 80 pounds a couple years ago after changing his diet and exercises like crazy so he doesn’t look like anything’s wrong nor does he feel bad. You never know.

Smartest thing a man can do is find a Urologist around the age of 50-55 and schedule an annual visit every year. All kind of things affect a man starting about that age including ED or diminished performance all of which are easily treatable by a Urologist plus they keep a close watch on BPH (also treatable) and your PSA. Plus developing and maintaining a routine relationship with the Urologist helps him better understand and quickly treat any problems you might develop.

My dad hated going to the doctor, so he generally didn't.

In 1998, we were going to go to a Boy Scout backpacking summer camp that required him to get a physical. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer that had already metastasized. He was 49.

He immediately started pursuing every aggressive treatment option he could at one of the best cancer hospitals in the country (MD Anderson in Houston).

He died in 2005 at age 56. That was several times longer than the doctors thought he would make it at the beginning when he was diagnosed.

In all likelihood, if he'd had regular annual physicals, he would be alive today. He missed my college graduation, my wedding, and the births of his three grandchildren. Because he was dead. Because he didn't like going to the doctor.

Go to the doctor every year. Get your prostate checked every year. Start before you're 50.

2010 my PSA was only 2.2, however, that was elevated from previous testing. Urologist did the dreaded finger wave and he was not happy with what he felt. A CAT scan came back positive. Davinci procedure done for Prostatectomy. Annual PSA is now 0.0

Elevated PSA caused my doctor to schedule a prostrate biopsy. Covid caused all non-essential procedures to stop for a couple of months. Funny how that is considered non-essential. Finally had the biopsy done in August. Gleason score came back 3,4. Met with urologist and then consultations with surgeons, radiologist/oncologists, my doctor, family, and friends as to which treatment to decide upon.

To repeat what others are saying, one should get tested every year.

The PSA is only one indicator. Seeing a competent urologist is the most important. There has been a good bit of controversy over the predictive value of the PSA.

I went through this process and learning experience about 8-9 years ago after several years of a PSA from the high 3's to low 4's (in my late 50's at the time). Then a biopsy. Gleason score 3 & 3.
I elected to have it out with robotic surgery and am very glad to have taken that route. The original doctor had advised for a less invasive but lifelong treatment and monitoring referred to as Active Surveillance. I knew a couple of people that did that but it came back 8-12 years later and they died from this.

There is a doctor in Florida that a friend of mine was treated by that can do some amazing stuff if it were to progress. My friend had a much more serious case and had a brother that had died years earlier from this.
He has a great website (link below) with lots of information for anyone with a similar problem or if you just want to know more.

https://dattoli.com/prostate-c...e-diagnosed-patient/

This link is an excellent article about active surveillance. Pay particular attention to the part that explains more about the Gleason score.

https://dattoli.com/wp-content...e-Surveillance-1.pdf

Thanks for the info 220-9er. My Gleason score is 3+4. I am scheduled for robotic surgery next month.

Men, get a PSA test done.

I am a couple of years away from retirement and decided to get my cholesterol checked, have a colonoscopy done, and get PSA test. I do not have any symptoms that led me to have these tests done and have not seen a dr. in a few years. So off I went to the local doc-in-the-box.

Glad that I went in as my PSA reading was 5.9. The dr. did not feel anything to be of a concern but will have a biopsy done tomorrow.

Don’t let the fact that you are in great shape and free of any chronic medical conditions (or, any suspicious symptoms) keep you from getting a test done.

Silent

quote:

Originally posted by Georgeair:
If y'all didn't already know, same carriers in different states can have different coverages, as can different employer plans under the same carrier in the same state.

When I questioned my urologist about the frequency of insurance-covered PSA tests, he told me that once you have the diagnosis of prostate cancer, it is a completely different charge code for the test. He said (exaggerating a bit) that with that code he could order one a day and it would be covered. That was back when I was getting tested every 3 months for a year or so following a prostatectomy. I'm now back to once a year, and for 17 years post surgery, my PSA=0.
 
When I was diagnosed and had a biopsy in 2003, my PSA was very, very slightly elevated above the norm, and the gland had no swelling detectable by the DRE.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: henryaz,

Good advice.

Off to the urologist on Friday after an elevated PSA came back a few weeks ago (age 70).

Some health care professionals are discouraging the PSA test because it yields a fair number of false positives and can lead to the patient rushing into unnecessary and invasive treatments (e.g., surgery, with its potential very negative effects). My theory is that the PSA test can provide the first indicator that a further exam is a good idea, and then that a biopsy might be a good idea, etc. We will then make an informed decision on what needs to be done next.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: RoverSig,

quote:

Originally posted by NOCkid:
Thanks for the info 220-9er. My Gleason score is 3+4. I am scheduled for robotic surgery next month.

I'm not a doctor so take it for what it's worth. Good idea to do the robotic surgery based on what I learned and experienced.

Good luck and keep us posted.

quote:

Originally posted by 220-9er:
I'm not a doctor so take it for what it's worth. Good idea to do the robotic surgery based on what I learned and experienced.

The robotic surgery is the least invasive and easiest to recover from. However, the more direct perineal surgery offers the urologist the best view of the prostate area and the best chance to remove everything he thinks is needed. The perineal incision exposes the entire prostate environment. That's the type of surgery I had in 2003, and back then the robotic wasn't quite as wide spread. Felt like I'd been punched in the taint for a few days, but overall recovery was very manageable. The perineal is not offered if the gland is too swollen, which mine was not.

quote:

Originally posted by RoverSig:
Good advice.

Off to the urologist on Friday after an elevated PSA came back a few weeks ago (age 70).

Some health care professionals are discouraging the PSA test because it yields a fair number of false positives and can lead to the patient rushing into unnecessary and invasive treatments (e.g., surgery, with its potential very negative effects). My theory is that the PSA test can provide the first indicator that a further exam is a good idea, and then that a biopsy might be a good idea, etc. We will then make an informed decision on what needs to be done next.

This has been my PCP's position for the last several years. Doesn't do the finger wave any more either. I may have to discuss it with him at my annual.

Some guys (like me) have high PSA #'s. I've been getting tested for 25 years. My numbers are have always been high. Even went through the procedure where they take samples from the prostrate . Negative. Still get checked every year . Still high but I'm still good.