Mark,

I'm not a doctor and am not qualified to give medical advice, but
here are my thoughts on what you're seeing.

The numbers look suspicious to me.  Many doctors still follow
the old guideline that says anything under 4.0 is okay, but in
fact it is now thought that what is "okay" depends on your age.
4.0 is probably fine for a 70 year old man, but probably not for
a 46 year old man.  And rapid growth of PSA is suspicious at any
age.

There are a number of conditions that can cause an elevated PSA.
Prostate cancer is the one that is dangerous.  Others include
"benign prostate hyperplasia" - which is a non-cancerous growth,
bacterial infection, and "prostatitis", which is a general name
for inflammation of the prostate tissue which could be caused by
various things.

I suggest you get a referral to a urologist who can analyze this
for you.  He may want to do a biopsy.  He may want to give you
antibiotics to see if you have a prostate infection.

If he wants to give you antibiotics, I suggest you ask him
if he can do a urine culture instead to check for infection.  I
personally think that speculative use of antibiotics is not in
the best interests either of patients or of society at large.  A
urine culture takes a little more time and trouble than writing a
prescription, but is a lot less invasive and may give more
information.

If he does recommend a biopsy, I suggest you follow the
recommendation and do it.  Ask him what kind of biopsy he does
and come back here to get people's ideas about it.

If you've got cancer, you've almost certainly caught it very
early while it is still highly treatable.

Best of luck.

   Alan

Could be BPH - a non-cancerous growth.
Could be an infection, although it would be unusual for one to hang
around 2-1/2 years.
Could be prostate cancer.

And I don't think anyone in the group is medically qualified to give
a diagnosis or suggest a treatment.

Who requested the PSA?  Your family doctor?   Or urologist?
Did they perform a DRE (digital rectal exam)?
Did they suggest a biopsy?

Lots of unanswered questions.

) NOT to panic - you have things under control
2) You can either wait and take another psa test
    in 3-6 moths and then make decisions.
    OR - ease your mind and take a biopsy now and then you know
    one way or another where you stand

Whatever the result - keep monitoring your psa

RR

In and of itself, it is an indicator that you might want to consult a
urologist and get a digital rectal exam.  A DRE can tell you if your
prostate is enlarged or if it has an palpable nodules.  With that
information, you are armed with enough knowledge to determine if a biopsy is
warranted.

Only a biopsy can determine if you have cancer.  But, there are several
other things it can be and a urologist should be making every effort to find
out what it is.

I would want to know for sure, so would go for the biopsy.  Of course,
even that is not definitive.  There have been guys here that had as
many as three biopsies before the cancer was found.

Did they do a PSA Free?  That would just be another indication of what
may be going on.

Good luck to you Mark.

David S.

Mark,

45 year old male here. Since both my grandfathers died from prostate
cancer and it's in the process of taking my Dad as I type, I've been
going for PSA tests and annual DREs since I was 40. My PSA started at
2.7 had escalated to 3.3 and held until a month or so ago when I
clocked in at 4.7. 30 days of Levaquin brought it back down to 3.6, at
which time my uro recommended a biopsy, which I had performed last
week. I get my results tomorrow.

I'm a newbie here, so I learn every time that I visit this ng. There
are a lot of experienced voices who IMO are extremely helpful and
offer solid comments. For example, out of this thread, I just learned
that if my results come back negative tomorrow, I should ask for a
urine culture.

In my case, even if I'm negative tomorrow, inevitably someday this
will be an issue for me and now is the time to get serious about
educating myself. I'd recommend that you do the same and good luck to
you.