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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Prostate Cancer / October 2006Sudden rise in already elevated PSA
My psa has had a sudden rise of 2.2 in one month. My previous total was 3.2. Is this a common sympton of BHP or infection for such a rapid rise over a month or am I just wishing? I'm definitley seeing a specialist asap but would appreciate to hear from others who have had similar diagnosis. Thanks AJ > My psa has had a sudden rise of 2.2 in one month. My previous total was > 3.2. Is this a common sympton of BHP or infection for such a rapid rise > over a month or am I just wishing? I'm definitley seeing a specialist asap > but would appreciate to hear from others who have had similar diagnosis. > Thanks AJ The doctor can give you a much more authoritative answer than I can, however it is my understanding that such a sudden one month rise is not likely due to cancer. Cancer usually causes a much slower rise in PSA, at least until it has reached a very aggressive and probably metastatic stage. A more likely cause is some stress on the prostate. That could be an infection, or a prostatitis inflammation due to other causes (e.g., calcium deposits), or trauma or sex shortly before the PSA test (there is debate about whether that has an influence or not. That doesn't mean your rise is not due to cancer. It only means that it is not the most likely cause. Your doctor may want to do a biopsy. If you are relatively young, e.g., under 60 or so, a PSA of 3.2 is high enough to be suspicious. A biopsy will probably resolve the issue, at least for now. The bad news is that you might have cancer. The good news is in two parts 1) there is a good chance you don't and 2) if you do, you've caught it very, very early and have an excellent chance of defeating it. Alan > My psa has had a sudden rise of 2.2 in one month. My previous total was > 3.2. Is this a common sympton of BHP or infection for such a rapid rise > over a month or am I just wishing? I'm definitley seeing a specialist asap > but would appreciate to hear from others who have had similar diagnosis. > Anecdote, might mean nothing to anyone but me: In May 2005, after several months of US PSA results of <0.01, I suddenly clocked a 4.87. Scary. Onc mumbling about starting chemo immediately. I ordered a retest. Score = 0.01. The lab had erred. Have that test redone. If possible using the same blood specimen. Mistakes happen. I have to wonder about the poor brother who thought he had a <0.01 when it should have been 4.87. If the large rise is true, I suspect that there is some cause other than PCa. I hope that the "specialist" is a cancer expert, an oncologist; not a uro, who unless he's a rare bird is fundamentally a surgeon. Regards, Steve J "What are the facts? Again and again and again -- what are the facts? Shun wishful thinking, ignore divine revelation, forget 'what the stars foretell,' avoid opinion, care not what the neighbors think, never mind the unguessable 'verdict of history' -- what are the facts, and to how many decimal places? You pilot always into an unknown future; facts are your single clue. Get the facts!" --Lazarus Long > My psa has had a sudden rise of 2.2 in one month. My previous total was > 3.2. Is this a common sympton of BHP or infection for such a rapid rise > over a month or am I just wishing? I'm definitley seeing a specialist > asap but would appreciate to hear from others who have had similar > diagnosis. Thanks AJ Hi, AJ.... Generally, a sudden sharp rise in PSA is more likely to be caused by infection, inflammation, or some other irritation of the prostate. Riding a bike, having sex, or having a DRE right before a PSA test can all cause an elevation, as well! Sometimes, too, errors can be made in reading the tests. Your doctor may want to try you on an antibiotic for 3 to 6 weeks and then re-test. If it's still up, then a biopsy may be advised. Try *not* to worry until you know what you are dealing with. There are many other possibilities besides prostate cancer. Keep us posted! MikeH Thanks to all. Venting in a forum like this truly helps in coping with the stress that comes with worrying. I guess having a biopsy may be my next step but as already mentioned it is better to be safe than sorry. This maybe a stupid question but can PSA be elevated by other possible cancers in the body ie: melenoma, kidney etc???? AJ >> My psa has had a sudden rise of 2.2 in one month. My previous total was >> 3.2. Is this a common sympton of BHP or infection for such a rapid rise [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > Keep us posted! > MikeH > Thanks to all. Venting in a forum like this truly helps in coping with the > stress that comes with worrying. I guess having a biopsy may be my next > step but as already mentioned it is better to be safe than sorry. > > This maybe a stupid question but can PSA be elevated by other possible > cancers in the body ie: melenoma, kidney etc???? There is no such thing as a stupid question. No. The short answer is: "PSA" means prostate SPECIFIC antigen. Regards, Steve J > ... Your doctor may > want to try you on an antibiotic for 3 to 6 weeks and then re-test. > ... By the way, and only slightly off topic, I'm convinced that we overprescribe antibiotics. I will never again let a doctor just "try" antibiotics to see if they make a difference. The number of antibiotic resistant bacteria in the world today is increasing at an alarming rate, far faster than research labs can possibly stay ahead of. Furthermore, your own body contains bacteria of many kinds (the actual estimate is 10 bacterial cells for each one of your own cells - though they each average 1/1000 of the size of your own cells.) The great majority of these bacteria are harmless and some are helpful, but training them to become antibiotic resistant is not a good thing. If the doctor wants to prescribe antibiotics, ask him about taking a urine culture instead. If it shows no bacterial infection then you'll know that antibiotics will do no good and you'll be taking heavy duty drugs that can upset your stomach and alter the biology of your own bacteria, for no good reason. If it does show a bacterial infection - then it might be worth taking the drugs. That's my two cents. Alan > My psa has had a sudden rise of 2.2 in one month. My previous total was > 3.2. Is this a common sympton of BHP or infection for such a rapid rise > over a month or am I just wishing? I'm definitley seeing a specialist > asap but would appreciate to hear from others who have had similar > diagnosis. Going suddenly from 3.2 to 5.4 is definitely a symptom of BHP. But, it can also be a symptom of something else. Unfortunately, you won't know until the the finger goes up your butt and the blood test comes back. But, I would certainly worry more about Korea until those results come back.  SignaturePSA 16 10/17/2000 @ 46 Biopsy 11/01/2000 G7 (3+4), T2c RRP 12/15/2000 G7 (3+4), T3cN0M0 Neg margins PSA .1 .1 .1 .27 .37 .75 EBRT 05-07/2002 @ 47 PSA .34 .22 .15 .21 .32 Lupron 07/03 (1 mo) 8/03 (4 mo), 12/03, 4/04, 09/04, 01/05, 5/05, 10/05, 2/06, 6/06 PSA .07 .05 .06 .09 .08 .132 .145 Casodex added daily 07/06 Non Illegitimi Carborundum Thanks Steve--just go back from my family doc today and had a dre ....he said that it felt soft with no hard bumps and ordered Cipro. But i'm still going to the the Specialist to rule out pca. Does inflamation of the prostae really cause it go up a lot (in my case 2.2 in one month??) >> My psa has had a sudden rise of 2.2 in one month. My previous total was >> 3.2. Is this a common sympton of BHP or infection for such a rapid rise [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > But, I would certainly worry more about Korea until those results come > back. > Thanks Steve--just go back from my family doc today and had a dre ....he said that it > felt soft with no hard bumps and ordered Cipro. But i'm still going to the the > Specialist to rule out pca. > Does inflamation of the prostae really cause it go up a lot (in my case 2.2 in one > month??) Did the doctor think that could happen? I would think it could. If it's either a bacterial infection or a calcium deposit, the onset of inflammation would be relatively sudden, i.e., a matter of days at most. If you think about other infections and inflammations you've had, they don't take a month to develop. By the way, I took Cipro for 28 days for prostatitis. My stomach was queasy the whole time, who knows what it did to my internal body chemistry, but it had no effect whatever on the prostatitis. I don't understand why doctors won't do a urine culture in these cases. You pee in sterile bottle. They send it to a lab, the lab exposes a nutrient culture to it for 24 hours, then measures the amount of bacteria they see. It's not expensive, is much quicker than a course of antibiotics, it is totally non-invasive, and it avoids taking a significant medical treatment if you don't need it. Alan Alan How was your prostatitis treated when Cipro didn't work? AJ >> Thanks Steve--just go back from my family doc today and had a dre ....he >> said that it felt soft with no hard bumps and ordered Cipro. But i'm [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > > Alan > Thanks Steve--just go back from my family doc today and had a dre ....he > said that it felt soft with no hard bumps and ordered Cipro. But i'm > still going to the the Specialist to rule out pca. > Does inflamation of the prostae really cause it go up a lot (in my case > 2.2 in one month??) Small amounts of PSA is a natural byproduct of a healthy prostate. If your doctor said your prostate was enlarged, then the PSA would naturally be produced in proportionately larger quantities. Since I am neither a doctor or scientist studying prostates, I cannot give you a certain answer, but it seems quite likely that 2.2 is not an unusual rise in a swollen prostate. SignaturePSA 16 10/17/2000 @ 46 Biopsy 11/01/2000 G7 (3+4), T2c RRP 12/15/2000 G7 (3+4), T3cN0M0 Neg margins PSA .1 .1 .1 .27 .37 .75 EBRT 05-07/2002 @ 47 PSA .34 .22 .15 .21 .32 Lupron 07/03 (1 mo) 8/03 (4 mo), 12/03, 4/04, 09/04, 01/05, 5/05, 10/05, 2/06, 6/06 PSA .07 .05 .06 .09 .08 .132 .145 Casodex added daily 07/06 Non Illegitimi Carborundum > Thanks Steve--just go back from my family doc today and had a dre ....he > said that it felt soft with no hard bumps and ordered Cipro. But i'm > still going to the the Specialist to rule out pca. > Does inflamation of the prostae really cause it go up a lot (in my case > 2.2 in one month??) I think that a biopsy is overkill at this point AJ. If the Cipro doesn't do the trick, then he may order a free PSA in a month or so. If it's still high, then the biopsy is next pal. Good luck! SignatureJK Sinrod www.SinrodStudios.com www.MyConeyIslandMemories.com >My psa has had a sudden rise of 2.2 in one month. My previous total was >3.2. Is this a common sympton of BHP or infection for such a rapid rise >over a month or am I just wishing? I'm definitley seeing a specialist asap >but would appreciate to hear from others who have had similar diagnosis. >Thanks AJ This has been my watershed day. Over the last four years, my PSA went from 1.3 to 3.5. I applied for life insurance and my PSA came back at 4.6 (vs 3.5 one year ago). I am a VERY healthy 54 YO. I went to my PCP three weeks later and he reported a PSA of 9.3 and a Free PSA of 15%. All DRE have been fine. I had my first URO visit today. So - I go for a biopsy in three weeks. I am not worried. The recent results seem extremely skewed so we'll see. > Over the last four years, my PSA went > from 1.3 to 3.5. I applied for life insurance and my PSA came back at [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > So - I go for a biopsy in three weeks. I am not worried. The recent > results seem extremely skewed so we'll see. The slow rises in PSA are not good news. But, you are correct that the sudden 9.3 is out of the ordinary and may, therefore, be an indication of some other problem. Your FreePSA is solidly in the gray area and DREs are good news. You are justified in not worrying and in getting a biopsy, IMHO. SignaturePSA 16 10/17/2000 @ 46 Biopsy 11/01/2000 G7 (3+4), T2c RRP 12/15/2000 G7 (3+4), T3cN0M0 Neg margins PSA .1 .1 .1 .27 .37 .75 EBRT 05-07/2002 @ 47 PSA .34 .22 .15 .21 .32 Lupron 07/03 (1 mo) 8/03 (4 mo), 12/03, 4/04, 09/04, 01/05, 5/05, 10/05, 2/06, 6/06 PSA .07 .05 .06 .09 .08 .132 .145 Casodex added daily 07/06 PSA <0.04 Non Illegitimi Carborundum
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