THERE WAS NO RESPONSE TO AN UPDATE REMINDER IN 2014 SO THERE IS NO UPDATE.
After years of PSA readings of 1.2 or 1.3 it jumped to 1.9 in February of 2005 at age 59. My GP had it re-tested three months later and it lowered to 1.3. The PSA returned the following year to 1.9 and stayed in that approximate area until June of 2010 when it went to 2.7.
My doctor referred me to a urologist who did a digital exam and thought he felt a thickening at the base of the prostate and ordered a biopsy. The results of the 12 core biopsy showed two cores positive for PCa at 10%. My wife and I discussed the findings with the urologist and agreed to active surveillance for now.
In April of 2011 I decided to consult with a team of doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital to get a second opinion of the biopsy and findings of my urologist. The pathologist concurred with the Gleason 6 diagnosis but the Medical Oncologist reported that there was no abnormality when he did a DRE, concluding that the stage was T1c. The MGH Urologist and Radiologist agreed that while I would be a good candidate for either surgery or radiation, active surveillance was an acceptable option. The most recent PSA in May of 2011 was 2.5.
I have done extensive research on PCa and at the present time I feel active surveillance is the best course of action for me. I am scheduled for a second biopsy at the end of June, 2011 and will evaluate the findings and see where I stand.
I have remained on active surveillance since first diagnosed with PCa in July of 2010. I have had two subsequent biopsies since, the last one showing one core, the Right Apex with adenocarcinoma with a Gleason score of 3+3=6 Involving approx 10% of tissue and one core in the Left Apex showing Rare atypical glands highly suspicious for malignancy. A PSA; test 3 months after the biopsy showed 5.1 ng/ml, up from 3.9 before biopsy. The doc thought this might be because of inflamation from the biopsy and scheduled another PSA test in May of 2013. That test resulted in a lowered PSA of 4.3 ng/ml.
I'm continuing on active surveillance and will have another PSA test in September of this year and another biopsy around Dec/Jan. I'll update the results of those tests at that time.
John's e-mail address is: usfedres AT gmail.com (replace "AT" with "@")
NOTE: John has not updated his story for more than 15 months, so you may not receive any response from him.
