Talk Cancer

Question:

This probably seems trivial to many of you, but I’m struggling a little…

Jerry, Playing with PCa is not trivial to any of us.  On that, I think I can speak for everyone who looks for this NG. Regarding your results, I’d say you have a good reason to hold your breath, but you’re probably in a really good position to save your life and even your potentcy.  I wish you luck.  Let us know.

Response:

That low fPSA is a good indication that there probably is cancer in the prostate. Spend the next couple of days reading. It will help pass the time and it will help you to understand the lab results and ask necessary questions. It will also help you to make a decision on the type of treatment if this one comes back with the dreaded results. I suggest you start by reading the phoenix site first. http://www.phoenix5.org http://www.cooleyville.com/ Bev

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – This probably seems trivial to many of you, but I’m struggling a little… I’m 45, negative DRE; in June my PSA was 4.5 with 9 percent free.  I had a sextant biopsy in July, with negative results (provisional good news). Pathology report mentioned "benign prostatic tissue with chronic inflammation". Did a course of Cipro antibiotic, followed up with PSA test to see if it helped.  Unfortunately the PSA came back 4.9, free PSA only 7 percent so antibiotic didn’t help. I just had a 12 sample repeat biopsy Friday (5 each side, plus 2 transition zone).  This wasn’t really much more uncomfortable than the six sample one I had, by the way. Results won’t be back til next Friday, and the suspense is driving me nuts, probably worse than after the first biopsy. Studies seem to be all over the map about free PSA percentage and how specific it is or isn’t for diagnosing PCa.  I feel like I’m holding my breath for a week! My ray of hope is that chronic, non-bacterial, asymptomatic prostatis is driving my PSA numbers…. — Jerry G Michigan    http://www.newsfeed.com       The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! —–= Over 100,000 Newsgroups – Unlimited Fast Downloads – 19 Servers

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Response:

This probably seems trivial to many of you, but I’m struggling a little… I’m 45, negative DRE; in June my PSA was 4.5 with 9 percent free.  I had a sextant biopsy in July, with negative results (provisional good news).   Pathology report mentioned "benign prostatic tissue with chronic inflammation". Did a course of Cipro antibiotic, followed up with PSA test to see if it helped.  Unfortunately the PSA came back 4.9, free PSA only 7 percent so antibiotic didn’t help. I just had a 12 sample repeat biopsy Friday (5 each side, plus 2 transition zone).  This wasn’t really much more uncomfortable than the six sample one I had, by the way. Results won’t be back til next Friday, and the suspense is driving me nuts, probably worse than after the first biopsy.     Studies seem to be all over the map about free PSA percentage and how specific it is or isn’t for diagnosing PCa.  I feel like I’m holding my breath for a week! My ray of hope is that chronic, non-bacterial, asymptomatic prostatis is driving my PSA numbers…. — Jerry G Michigan    http://www.newsfeed.com       The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! —–= Over 100,000 Newsgroups – Unlimited Fast Downloads – 19 Servers =—–

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – This probably seems trivial to many of you, but I’m struggling a little… I’m 45, negative DRE; in June my PSA was 4.5 with 9 percent free.  I had a sextant biopsy in July, with negative results (provisional good news).   Pathology report mentioned "benign prostatic tissue with chronic inflammation". Did a course of Cipro antibiotic, followed up with PSA test to see if it helped.  Unfortunately the PSA came back 4.9, free PSA only 7 percent so antibiotic didn’t help. I just had a 12 sample repeat biopsy Friday (5 each side, plus 2 transition zone).  This wasn’t really much more uncomfortable than the six sample one I had, by the way. Results won’t be back til next Friday, and the suspense is driving me nuts, probably worse than after the first biopsy.     Studies seem to be all over the map about free PSA percentage and how specific it is or isn’t for diagnosing PCa.  I feel like I’m holding my breath for a week! My ray of hope is that chronic, non-bacterial, asymptomatic prostatis is driving my PSA numbers….

Cases like yours can be very frustrating.  All the low free PSA does is increase the likelihood of cancer being found.  It by no means is a certainty.   But it does tend to mean repeat biopsies. The silver lining is that no cancer has been found so far, and maybe none will ever be found. — Dept. of Mathematics, Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL 60208

Response: