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Suggest Treatment For High PSA Levels
Question: I am a 46 year old male. I am worried of my PSA levels which have risen from 3.52ng/ml in January 2013 to 6.57ng/ml in August 2014. I did a prostate biopsy in April 2014. The Dr indicated that there was no signs of cancer. What could be the cause of the rising PSA levels? What would be your advise given the results I have attached. Should I do another Biopsy and when can I do it again? Is PSA levels a sign of other cancer besides prostate? I would appreciate any other advise.
Brief Answer:
Please do not worry !
Detailed Answer:
Hi! Your PSA levels went up from 3.52 to 6.57 ng/ml in about 8 months. Your prostate biopsy shows low grade prostatitis. Now let me reassure you that PSA levels alone are a rather poor indicator of Prostate Cancer. One may have cancer of prostate with relatively normal levels and may NOT have cancer with above normal levels. In fact current medical thought now doubts the importance of including PSA in annual medical checkups for this very reason. To come to your case, elevated PSA can be seen in inflammation of the prostate (called Prostatitis - the condition your biopsy revealed) and in urinary tract infection besides cancer of prostate. You did the correct thing by keeping track of your PSA by getting it measured again and your doctor too was spot on by doing a biopsy which revealed inflammation of the prostate as the cause of elevated PSA in your case. Now the next move has to be treatment of this low grade prostatitis. Please consult your doctor/urologist for the same. As the prostate inflammation reduces so will the PSA. Please do not worry unduly over this issue.
Do write to me for further clarification. All the best!
Please do not worry !
Detailed Answer:
Hi! Your PSA levels went up from 3.52 to 6.57 ng/ml in about 8 months. Your prostate biopsy shows low grade prostatitis. Now let me reassure you that PSA levels alone are a rather poor indicator of Prostate Cancer. One may have cancer of prostate with relatively normal levels and may NOT have cancer with above normal levels. In fact current medical thought now doubts the importance of including PSA in annual medical checkups for this very reason. To come to your case, elevated PSA can be seen in inflammation of the prostate (called Prostatitis - the condition your biopsy revealed) and in urinary tract infection besides cancer of prostate. You did the correct thing by keeping track of your PSA by getting it measured again and your doctor too was spot on by doing a biopsy which revealed inflammation of the prostate as the cause of elevated PSA in your case. Now the next move has to be treatment of this low grade prostatitis. Please consult your doctor/urologist for the same. As the prostate inflammation reduces so will the PSA. Please do not worry unduly over this issue.
Do write to me for further clarification. All the best!
Note: For more detailed guidance, please consult an Internal Medicine Specialist, with your latest reports. Click here..
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Prasad
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