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Blood Work Done. PSA Level In Upper Range. Should I Be Concerned?

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Posted on Tue, 7 Aug 2012
Question: Thank you. My psa score has been hovering around 2.2 for many years. I got blood work in April and the psa was 2.2 but when we had some follow-up work done in early July (because of elevated triglyceride levels) my psa was 3.4- Although 3.4 is apparently in the upper range of normal I understand that the movement is also very important. Should this be cause for concern?
doctor
Answered by Dr. Pavan Kumar Gupta (52 minutes later)
Hello and thanks for the query.
I will start by saying that it is not at all a concern.
Researchers at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center looked at data on 5,519 men who took part in a major study on prostate cancer prevention, all of whom were ultimately given biopsies no matter what their PSA tests found.

The researchers found that a rising PSA level alone led to a very slight increase in overall cancer risk… but only in the types of tumors that you’d never actually need to worry about.

And rising PSA levels didn’t play any role at all in predicting the rare and aggressive cancers that could actually hurt you, according to the study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Here’s the reality of the situation: PSA tests are notoriously unreliable no matter how they’re used. High levels, rising levels, and even “normal” levels are all meaningless.

Even the tumors detected through this system are almost always slow-growing cancers that would never harm you.

The treatments, on the other hand, could ruin your life, leaving your scarred and stressed–not to mention battling incontinence and impotence.

It’s just one more reason why a growing number of enlightened doctors now refuse to use PSA tests at all… and even some mainstream experts are backing away.

But if your doc is still using these screenings, don’t even waste your time asking him how he feels about the latest research.

On other hand there can be many reasons for rise in PSA,other than prostate cancer,like
Recent ejaculation or digital rectal examination or benign prostate enlargement or even riding a bicycle or prostatitis( in nutshell any thing which irritates your prostate) 
now for your satisfaction....
You may keep repeating your PSA levels after every few months and if you find a consistently rising trend on successive occasions,you may get yourself thoroughly tested by a urologist.

I hope to have answered your query however you may revert to me for any further query.
Best of luck
Thanks
Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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Answered by
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Dr. Pavan Kumar Gupta

General & Family Physician

Practicing since :1978

Answered : 6704 Questions

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Blood Work Done. PSA Level In Upper Range. Should I Be Concerned?

Hello and thanks for the query.
I will start by saying that it is not at all a concern.
Researchers at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center looked at data on 5,519 men who took part in a major study on prostate cancer prevention, all of whom were ultimately given biopsies no matter what their PSA tests found.

The researchers found that a rising PSA level alone led to a very slight increase in overall cancer risk… but only in the types of tumors that you’d never actually need to worry about.

And rising PSA levels didn’t play any role at all in predicting the rare and aggressive cancers that could actually hurt you, according to the study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Here’s the reality of the situation: PSA tests are notoriously unreliable no matter how they’re used. High levels, rising levels, and even “normal” levels are all meaningless.

Even the tumors detected through this system are almost always slow-growing cancers that would never harm you.

The treatments, on the other hand, could ruin your life, leaving your scarred and stressed–not to mention battling incontinence and impotence.

It’s just one more reason why a growing number of enlightened doctors now refuse to use PSA tests at all… and even some mainstream experts are backing away.

But if your doc is still using these screenings, don’t even waste your time asking him how he feels about the latest research.

On other hand there can be many reasons for rise in PSA,other than prostate cancer,like
Recent ejaculation or digital rectal examination or benign prostate enlargement or even riding a bicycle or prostatitis( in nutshell any thing which irritates your prostate) 
now for your satisfaction....
You may keep repeating your PSA levels after every few months and if you find a consistently rising trend on successive occasions,you may get yourself thoroughly tested by a urologist.

I hope to have answered your query however you may revert to me for any further query.
Best of luck
Thanks