rising psa

sjm · New User Joined: 28 Nov 2006 Posts: 2

My husband has an enlarged prostate, has had one biopsy (two years ago), psa has been as high as 4.8 in the past and as low as 2.8 in the last five years,it has now risen to 5.8, he is 60 and will have another biopsy. Is there any chance that this rise could be due to bph? He has not been on antibiotics.

johnw100 · Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 4:20 pm Post subject: PSA

Yes.

"PSA DENSITY"
"TREND"
"Free PSA"
"DRE"

There is no such thing as a "normal" PSA.

Lots of things can affect a PSA reading: a larger prostate naturally produces more PSA, so when looking at a PSA reading one should logically take the prostate size into account.

"PSA Density" is a simple calculation which divides the PSA by the prostate size.

The PSA trend can be important, which is why they refer to "doubling time".
If PSA doubled in a year it would need further investigation: if it has gone up gradually over time, it could more likley be due to the prostate growing larger and naturally producing more PSA.

The "free PSA" test also indicates the probability of PC.

These simple tests and DRE examination are worth doing first, and if normal, there wouldn't seem to be any cause for concern.

John

ugbandtulsa · Regular Joined: 28 Nov 2006 Posts: 11

I really would not be too worried at this point. Most doctors cannot agree on what a "normal" PSA level for this age group would be. At 60, some would say 6 or less is acceptable. Some would also say check it out. Not sure I would go for a biopsy at this point. Let me assure you, my father's was 250 and came down to 59 with chemo, so your husband's score and increase is far from unusual for his age.

Hope it helps.

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