My PSA jumped from 3 to 11 so my uro said he'd better do a biopsy. Had it done last week and it was no big deal (in case any of you have one scheduled). There was no pain during the procedure although having the tube in my rectum was pretty uncomfortable. The only post-procedure pain in the butt (literally) was the antibiotic shot I got in the right cheek prior. Got the results today and it was prostatitis which the uro said was a common side-effect of the bladder cancer treatment (BCG) I had early this year. That was a quite a relief. He said he'll want another PSA check in 6 months.
Lee Glad all is ok for now. I have never heard of Prostatitis being a side effect of Cancer. Men can get it anytime in there life. I have a friend that got it when he was 17. He has been deal with it for years he's 33 now. I have Prostatitis now I have 1 more week of antibiotic to go. I am going to have to read up on that. I wish you well Ken
How do they know it is prostatitis? Seems like it must have been a process of elimination, since prostatitis can increase PSA significantly. So, if they didn't find cancer, it must be prostatitis??
If it happens again, you might want to consider first assuming it is prostatitis and taking antibiotics. You can always get another biopsy if the PSA doesn't come down.
Prostatitis can show up on a biopsy result . Mine did .
It was a side-effect of the cancer treatment, not the cancer itself (which was confined to a tumor that was surgically removed.)
The pathology report said "granulomatous protatitis" so I think they can diagnose this from tissue examination. I have no symptoms and am not taking anything for it.
I'll let the doctor decide on the appropriate response if the PSA is still high in 6 months.
Lee so which procedure did you have to remove the tumor. and did you have most of the prostate removed Ken
It was a standard trans-urethral resection. He did not touch the prostate. Next month he's going to do a flow test and PVR (last PVR a couple years ago indicated 2 oz (60cc) residual). We'll then discuss treatment options (beyond the alpha-blocker I'm already on.)
I was treated for BPH since 1990 and with alpha blockers 2006 to 2015 and Duodart from March 2013 to March 2014. My highest PSA over 25 years was 3.8 yet I was diagnosed with 3+4 PCa and gland was removed 2015. They say biopsies don’t spread the Cancer but their scenario for this is doubtful. Check internet!!!!!!! Biopsies are part of any PCa treatment but they have known since 1990 that ultrasound-guided biopsies, without MRI+ direction does not necessarily find Cancer that is present without a very large multiple of hits. While they might say MRIs don’t always detect Cancer that is present it did with mine (2 separate places) while solely ultrasound guided found nothing on 2 separate occasions. I don’t know how much better again PET scans are but a friend who died shortly after being diagnosed with bowel Cancer was told he should have had a PET scan every 2 years and he would likely still be with us?????I think a lot of our treatment, in Australia, is based on cost rather than best practice. Don’t think PSAs and Ultrasound-guided biopsies will prove everything. Ask the right questions. My Urologist wanted to keep PSA monitoring and if my GP hadn’t already gone down my path that’s where I would likely be today.
Barrie Heslop