Another Blood Test

I got the results of a recent blood test from my primary physician.  My PSA is still rising, now up to 2.9.  This was the same lab that measured a 2.4 just under a year ago.  Subject to day-to-day variations, this isn’t an alarming increase, but it still isn’t a good sign, either.  Generally, an increase of 0.75 per year is considered a warning sign.  My increase is below that, so hopefully more consistent with prostatitis or BPH.  It also shows my daily regimen of prostate supplements (selenium, saw palmetto, anti-oxidants, etc) is not helping so far.  I plan to consult my local urologist in a few months time.  I’ll probably get another blood test at that point, including free PSA.

3 thoughts on “Another Blood Test”

  1. If your PSA test score is high but the rectal examination done by the urologist does not indicate signs of a malignancy in the prostate, the next step before a biopsy should be the Free PSA test. This test is more specific and if the results indicate that there is a possibility of cancer, then the next step should be the biopsy. Many unnecessary biopsies could be avoided if these steps were followed.

  2. PSA has nothing to do with prostate cancer but it does show that your prostate is growing when the PSA goes up.

    Have your urologist express some prostatic fluid & send it to a lab, to find out what kind of INFECTION or INFECTIONS you have. If none that rules out Prostatitis.

    1. Thanks, Jerry. Some prostate cancer cells produce excessive PSA. That is why a high PSA level might be related to prostate cancer. Other types may not produce excessive PSA or may not be in an area of the prostate where they readily contribute to PSA levels in the bloodstream. That is why PSA levels are not always a good indicator of prostate cancer, but they are certainly cause for monitoring. Prostatitis is another possibility, as is BPH. Juan, you can find records of my free PSA levels and previous tests elsewhere in this blog.

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