I know four men whose PSA was perfect and whose prostate cancer went undetected because their doctors relied entirely on the PSA and did not physically examine them. Each of them, upon getting a new doctor who did the physical exam, turned out to have sufficiently advanced cancer to require a prostatectomy. One of those still experienced metastates and died. He was my brother. I’m on a mission to make sure as many men as possible don’t let their doctors rely strictly on the PSA to determine prostate health.
As part of Obamacare, some group of doctors determined that men should no longer get DREs and PSAs check because those procedures “cause stress and undue worry.”
Of course that was total bullshit. A radiation oncologist at MD Anderson told me they were expecting a significant increase in advanced prostate cancer patients in the future because of those recommendations.
You have a good cause.
There are better tests than the psa for prostate cancer, as you know.
The PCA-3 test for example.
https://www.cancerdefeated.com/finally-something-better-than-the-psa-test/
There are other ways to use the PSA, but it would require sizing the prostate through ultrasound, MRI, or CT. Also, there are other markers to test (urinary PCA3 or SelectMDx test).
More, here:
https://www.pcf.org/about-prostate-cancer/what-is-prostate-cancer/the-psa-test/
I have had both a preventative CT and MRI done over the past few years to keep track of the size, and I encourage all men to consider such voluntary scans, if their doctors won’t prescribe them.
My doctor said he was the envy of everyone in medical school. His fingers are too short to do a prostate exam.
I’m on a mission to make sure as many men as possible don’t let their doctors rely strictly on the PSA to determine prostate health.
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See my post 23 at this link.... Dr. Stamey was an amazing individual. It takes a lot of guts to admit one is/was wrong, particularly after the PSA test had taken on the role that it had.
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4076055/posts
"I’m on a mission to make sure as many men as possible don’t
let their doctors rely strictly on the PSA to determine prostate health."
.
Good for you!
I agree with you that the PSA test(s) are darn-near useless for
determining the status of prostrate cancer.
My dad was put on implanted hormone pellets for years due
to high PSA levels.
He suffered the nasty side effects of those hormone
treatments, until one day he said 'enough' - and told his doctor
to stop the things. "If I die, I die." he said.
But he lived for a number of years after that (made it to
89 years old), his cancer then went into remission all
by itself, and his PSA levels went back to normal.
And I am NOT convinced that he actually even had prostrate
cancer at all to begin with.
He ultimately passed away from COPD (cardio-obstructive pulmonary disease) -
from smoking cigarettes for 63 years from age 12 to 75 -
at age 89 - 3 months short of 90.
Good luck on your mission!