Contrary to longstanding medical conviction, a sudden spike in a man’s PSA (prostate-specific antigen) is not a good indicator of the likelihood of aggressive prostate cancer, and consequently should not necessarily send men on a path to prostate biopsy. The Associated Press reports that researchers at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center tracked 5,519 men who’d taken part in a huge prostate cancer prevention study and who’d received a biopsy at the study’s end regardless of their PSA level. The researchers found that a rising PSA – if nothing else was considered – was associated with a slightly higher risk of having cancer, although not the more worrisome aggressive kind. But the PSA level alone, not its rise, was a much better predictor of a tumor, reported Vickers, a statistician who specializes in prostate cancer. The study revealed that focusing on PSA’s rise instead triggered many more biopsies, with close to 1 in 7 men who would get one.
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This does not apply to African-Ameerican men who should be concerned with any sudden spikes in PSA readings.
Three years ago I was diagnosed with prostate cancer and received 42 radiation treatments. My PSA was only 3.5 but had risen from 1.5 in a years time. The doctor said it was still low but I told her I wanted a biopsy. I feel the only true way to find out if one has cancer is to have a biopsy. I no longer trust the PSA reading. I have talked to men with PSA readings in the teens and twenties that had biopsies and were cancer free. This is very confusing to me. We are not all “made” a like! We do have different body chemistry in some of us. My PSA is now below 1 but let me tell you, I will have another biopsy soon just to ease my mind if for no other reason.
If PSA is a poor prostate cancer predictor, then a series of test should be done on a prostate cancer patient in order for them to be sure that they have or don’t have cancer any more. Like anderson said that he had undergone another biopsy even though his PSA is below 1, just to be sure.