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A friend of mine is in his early 40's and his PSA last year measured 0.50 at his Annual. He is really worried as his PSA at this year's Annual was 61.0. He has no symptoms. Is it possible for a Prostate Cancer to develop and get this bad so quickly or is it likely a false positive?
1. Theofretically it is possible to see a PSA increase that quickly, but it is very unusual.
2. Has he SEEN the result or been TOLD the result - a good friend of mine nearly had a heart attack when the silly nurse left out the decimal place on one of his tests - didn't realise the fifference bdetween 3.5 and .35!
3. Did he have a negative DRE?
4. Suggest he has another test as soon as convenient and if that replicates the first test then he gets to an oncologist to investigate.
IF, and that's a very big IF, the PSA is relared to PCa, then it is likely to be one of the aggressive vairieties and will require urgent attention.
Thanks Terry. He is going for another PSA test. I don't know if he had a DRE. He's not too keen on his doctor's communication skills. He thinks ( hopes )he may have had an infection at the time of the initial test. I suggested that he not have sex for a couple of days prior to the follow up one.
You'd have to have some pretty wild sex to get a PSA that high :-)
IF your pal has his PSA confirmed in the region of 60 ng/ml, then I thnk it would be in his best interests to consult an oncologist as soon as is convenient - not a urologist - and if he can find one experienced with PCa.
Terry, it turns out that I didn't hear my buddy properly ( he was kind of freaking out at the time )as he had said to me that his PSA was 131 not 61. Anyways, you were right as per usual. He got rechecked and then found out that his initial number was 1.31 not 131. The nurse had read it wrong over the phone. He is so so relieved obviously.
Alls well that ends well, then. I can certainly understand your pal's concerns.
Hope everyone who reads this gets the message Get Copies Of All Reports You are entitled to them in most jurisdictions - at the most you may be asked to pay the cost of making a copy, which is peanuts compared with making a decisoin on the wrong information.
