Thursday, June 28, 2012

Anonymous said... My PSA level has increased from 5.0 to 6.0 all in a matter of 2 weeks. I feel fine and there are no signs of anything being wrong. What's the best avenue to take to cure and/or prevent things from getting worse? February 22, 2012 3:34 AM

Changes of PSA levels may have several reasons. 
Cancer is one of them.
Physical irritation of the prostate: riding a bike or horse for example, which should be avoided before the PSA test.  Inflammation of the prostate. Benign enlargement of the prostate (BPH; Large prostates produce more PSA than small prostates).)... and other reasons may also cause elevated PSA levels.   
If concern persists, your urologist will discuss this with you, (for example, when the PSA level continues to rise, or rises fast) then a biopsy should be considered. If the biopsy is negative (no cancer found), and PSA levels continues to be concerning, I recommend MRI of the prostate (Magnet Resonance Imaging (a method using radio waves / magnetic fields to produce images of the prostate (without radiation/ no x-rays) for detection of possible cancer.  If MR images show suspicious lesions, those can be targeted either directly during MRI-guided prostate biopsies, or during ultrasound-guided biopsies, using the MR images (for example after fusion of MR and ultrasound images) as "map'  of prostate and suspicious targets. 
ANY unexpected change of PSA level should be discussed with your urologist, because cancer as reason has to be ruled out.  


Your urologist will know when to repeat the PSA test, when to recommend a biopsy, or when to treat a possible inflammation of the prostate.