I'm wondering now that it has been 3 months what the update is. Care to let us know how it is going?
Digital rectal exam is no longer recommended for prostate cancers screening due to low sensitivity and specificity.
Source: https://www.uptodate.com/contents/screening-for-prostate-cancer
Prostate cancer screening is a controversial topic in medicine. Many men will die with a slow-growing prostate cancer, even though that is not necessarily the cause of their death. Excessive screening may need to unnecessary biopsies and/or treatment. Hence, it is important to strike a balance and make clinical decisions based on evidence-based medicine. Below you will find the latest recommendations from the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF):
For men 55-69 years old, the decision to undergo periodic prostate-specific antigen (PSA)–based screening for prostate cancer should be an individual one. Before deciding whether to be screened, men should have an opportunity to discuss the potential benefits and harms of screening with their clinician and to incorporate their values and preferences in the decision. Screening offers a small potential benefit of reducing the chance of death from prostate cancer in some men. However, many men will experience potential harms of screening, including false-positive results that require additional testing and possible prostate biopsy; overdiagnosis and overtreatment; and treatment complications, such as incontinence and erectile dysfunction. In determining whether this service is appropriate in individual cases, patients and clinicians should consider the balance of benefits and harms on the basis of family history, race/ethnicity, comorbid medical conditions, patient values about the benefits and harms of screening and treatment-specific outcomes, and other health needs. Clinicians should not screen men who do not express a preference for screening.
For men 70 years and older, the USPSTF recommends against PSA-based screening for prostate cancer.
Just wanna throw in my 2 cents worth - I’m a Prostate Cancer survivor & have quite a bit of knowledge about this issue. Normally, a PSA of around 4.0 is considered the point where it’s time to start looking at the possibility of cancer. However, I’m aware of rare cases where guys were diagnosed w/ PCa at a PSA much lower than that, like 2.2 - but that’s an exception.
Also be aware that you can have a PSA higher than 4 & still be cancer free. As others have pointed out, there are several things that can cause a high PSA - an enlarged prostate (very common in men over 50), prostatitis, extended bike rides, even recent sexual activity. But I think any level below 1.0 at age 60 would normally not be anything to worry about.
The best way to keep an eye on this is to have fairly frequent digital rectal exams (DREs) - it’s not the most pleasant thing, but it only takes a few seconds & is necessary to assess both enlargement & the presence of harder nodules that might be suspicious for cancer, along with regular PSA tests. If at any point, smthg seems a little off, do NOT hesitate to see a Urologist. If caught early, when the disease is still confined to the prostate, it’s nearly 100% curable.
Yes GuitarRox,,,,ended up with BPH, no cancer, this was in 2014, still on meds for bph.
FYI——MRI and color Doppler guided biopsy’s are more accurate than an dr. office trus biopsy.
As you get older the PSA May rise due to the natural rise in size of the prostate.
To make you feel better you can always ask the doctor to confirm things with non invasive follow up tests.
It's rising, but barely.
https://www.cancer.gov/types/prostate/psa-fact-sheet
There can be some concern with that, but it doesn't really specify how much of a rise should cause concern. Has your doctor done a digital exam?