Prostate Cancer

I had been having a few of the symptoms of an enlarged prostate. Difficulty in starting to pee and going several times a night. Had the tests done. Examination and a blood test. Results are a slightly enlarged prostate that with medication should not cause a problem.

I asked my Doctor why Men are not routinely tested at say 50 years old with just the blood test and he told me that the NHS deems the cost outweighs the benefits. I find this very strange with all of the publicity around Prostate Cancer.

Anyway guys, any symptoms get yourself tested. Most of the time it will just be the blood test.
 
My Uncle died of it, & 2 of my older cousins have been successfully treated for it. I've also been diagnosed with an enlarged prostate & suffer from having to get up in the middle of the night to pee quite often, as seem to be unable to empty my bladder fully when I go. I'll be having another test hopefully in a few weeks.
You can get it earlier than 50 however, as there was a guy on the prostate charity walk that I did with Stelling from Wimbledon to Wembley 9 years ago that had incurable/stage 4 that was planning on running the Sahara.
Also my bosses Son in Law, has recently been diagnosed with it at 40!
 
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Five of my immediate friends and family have prostate cancer right now, in various degrees and stages.
Most men will get it, if they live long enough. Most people who have, live with the condition and, ultimately die of something else.
We’re all more likely to get diagnosed early, making it very treatable, due to the high profile and testing these days.
Been examined. Was fine. But still a one start review, for days out in Middlesbrough, on TripAdvisor.
Sorry you lost your Uncle. That’s awful.
 
I've heard various reasons given as to why testing is not routine. My own doctor was quite blunt after she'd just finished having a poke around up there, saying that if every man was tested then the number of 'positives' would overwhelm the NHS. I had to go for two or three further tests before I was positively diagnosed and had the operation within four months of first going to see the doctor and being sent for a blood test. I have to say that the NHS was brilliant right from the point of getting the raised PSA result, but if I hadn't asked for the test then I'd likely now be in a state where the outcome was not optimistic, dead, or still blissfully unaware of something potentially fatal going on inside me that would make itself evident some time later as I never had any symptoms. So, ask for the test. It could save your life.
 
The lack of screening for prostate cancer isn't because of cost, its because the test is garbage: it leads to huge numbers of healthy people getting unnecessary cancer referrals, while missing 79% of the people who do actually have prostate cancer. 75% of people who get a positive PSA test are cancer-free.

This extract from the NICE report is pretty damning:

the PSA test is vulnerable to both false positive and false negative results; in the US-based Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial (PCPT), PSA had a sensitivity of 21% (79% false negative rate), a specificity of 91% (9% false positive rate), a positive predictive value (PPV) of 30%, and a negative predictive value (NPV) of 85% using a 4 ng/mL cut-off.

The lower threshold of 3 ng/mL PSA had a higher sensitivity of 32% (68% false negative rate) but at the cost of a lower specificity of 85% (15% false positive rate).

High rates of false positives and false negatives have multiple adverse implications for patients. For example, in the event of a false positive, the patient is unnecessarily exposed to the physical and psychological side-effects of the highly invasive prostate needle biopsy procedure that is typically used to confirm diagnosis, whereas in the event of a false negative, the patient is given false assurances which can delay detection of the disease and may worsen their prognosis. Indeed, it has been suggested that the delayed detection of prostate cancer in obese men may contribute to the worse clinical outcomes observed in this subpopulation. In addition, the PSA test cannot reliably distinguish between patients with clinically significant and insignificant prostate cancer. Use of the PSA test may therefore lead to overdiagnosis and subsequent overtreatment; that is, the diagnosis of prostate cancer that would be unlikely to cause overt symptoms during a patient’s lifetime or to shorten their life expectancy that is then unnecessarily treated, exposing men to the adverse effects of radical treatment for no benefit.

Multiple investigations have suggested that overall, the harms of diagnosing and treating clinically insignificant cancer may outweigh the benefits of screening.
 
The lack of screening for prostate cancer isn't because of cost, its because the test is garbage: it leads to huge numbers of healthy people getting unnecessary cancer referrals, while missing 79% of the people who do actually have prostate cancer. 75% of people who get a positive PSA test are cancer-free.

This extract from the NICE report is pretty damning:
My daughter, who is a doctor, said exactly what you have posted when I told her in my recent annual check they had offered me the PSA test, she said she would have advised me not to have it.
 
Had mine checked a few weeks ago after what I thought were symptoms. Quick blood and urine test, then the wait for the results. Few days later in with the Doc for a poke about, no dramas, PSA of 0.3. IF IN DOUDT CHECK IT OUT. Why are men fannies when it comes to these type of problems. The Doc had 2 young female trainees in with him, still no embarrassment on my behalf, needs must.
 
My uncle found he had it at 73, 3 days later he had died from it. I tried to get tested last year but wasn't deememed in the bracket. Trying again next week as at 53 I need a Doctors referral

But I've had over a dozen blood tests this year.
 
My uncle found he had it at 73, 3 days later he had died from it. I tried to get tested last year but wasn't deememed in the bracket. Trying again next week as at 53 I need a Doctors referral

But I've had over a dozen blood tests this year.
Why should they refuse anyone at all. The test is shorter than it is to boil a kettle. They harp on about getting tested then brick wall you.
 
I dont much post on here, browse every so often but thought this subject is really close to me so thought I need to respond

Over the years I too have suffered with going to the toilet a lot of times through the night & out of concern I contacted my doctors, who phoned me back to say, as im late 50's, at the time I was, (64 now) that its an age thing

Following my sisters passing last April I contacted the doctors & mentioned my sister, got called in for a blood test which showed a raised PSA, I was called back within days, following this I had an MRI scan, CPI scans over the next few weeks
May I diagnosed with 3 primary cancers, lung, bowel & prostate, which is so low I will die of old age before prostate kills me, first two have been removed & now on chemo
My advice is to ask for blood tests, if my PSA wasnt raised then the other two wouldnt have been found & it'll have been to late due no symptons other than regularly going to the toilet

I've been so very lucky
 
Diagnosed 3 months ago , stage 2 prostate cancer. PSA score of 30, reported after blood tests, followed by MRI and CT scans and a biopsy.

Now number 7 on the list to remove it. Wish i hadn't been so bloody stubborn and listened to my better half earlier.

As above, the same early warning signs regarding going for a wizz.

Please don't ignore the signs.
 
I dont much post on here, browse every so often but thought this subject is really close to me so thought I need to respond

Over the years I too have suffered with going to the toilet a lot of times through the night & out of concern I contacted my doctors, who phoned me back to say, as im late 50's, at the time I was, (64 now) that its an age thing

Following my sisters passing last April I contacted the doctors & mentioned my sister, got called in for a blood test which showed a raised PSA, I was called back within days, following this I had an MRI scan, CPI scans over the next few weeks
May I diagnosed with 3 primary cancers, lung, bowel & prostate, which is so low I will die of old age before prostate kills me, first two have been removed & now on chemo
My advice is to ask for blood tests, if my PSA wasnt raised then the other two wouldnt have been found & it'll have been to late due no symptons other than regularly going to the toilet

I've been so very lucky
Good luck with everything Erimus🤞
 
Was on the list for a back operation 6 years ago. Had an MRI scan that showed up damaged discs. But the last sentence in the report said
" Slightly enlarged prostate"
So I went to the docs and asked about it.
Was given a psa blood test. It came back slightly high. Next came the biopsy..... bloody painful!
Then I still remember hoing back to the hospital and there were 3 people in the room. It was obvious the C word was going to be mentioned.
Like most men, I didn't feel unwell, ut the middle of the night pee became 2 pees.
For the next 3 yyears, Iwas on an observation schedule that monitored my psa levels
Eventually I was told the psa rate was rising too quickly, even though it was still in single figures.
I was given the choice of treatment or removal.
I went straight for removal on the grounds that it could happen anyway if the treatment didn't work.
Afterwards I had psa tests every 3 months and they were almost zero. Now 3 years on from that the reading are very low and the gap in between appointments is now 9 months.
I rarely think about it nowadays only in the time between my blood been taken and my appointment.
If you have any doubts whatsoever go and get yourself tested I was lucky I had a bad back or I might not be here now!

PS I have chiropractor looking after my pain free back now
 
I was diagnosed too late 'stage 4 metastatic prostate cancer' that has spread to my bones. I had a high psa but the Urologist kept me on active surveillance. As my psa kept rising I finally got an mri, 18 months later, and then was called in for pet (bone) scan which unfortunately confirmed the spread to bones. The care prescribed is palliative (side effects are debilitating) and have had radiotherapy to the secondary bone tumour for pain.
Prostate Cancer Research, last year, analysed 'late diagnosis' rates (stage 4 metastatic disease) and NHS Trusts with the highest rates in England and as you will see our two Teesside Trusts are 1 and 2.
The Cheif Executive of Prostate Cancer Research said "it's a national tragedy that you are far more likely to die from prostate cancer just because you happen to live a hundred miles of more further north."
So much for Johnson's 'levelling up!'
 

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My daughter, who is a doctor, said exactly what you have posted when I told her in my recent annual check they had offered me the PSA test, she said she would have advised me not to have it.
I've had a couple of these done, as I have routine annual blood tests, but the nurse said they could be inconclusive.
 
My Dad passed away from it a couple of years ago. He was 79 and it had spread to his bones. He was getting pain in his hip but this was during Covid and he delayed going to the Docs. The cancer had actually fractured a bone and he was functioning pretty much as normal apart from trouble sleeping. From his late-50’s he had issues with an enlarged prostate. In the early 2000’s he had an operation to reduce it which was described as ‘shaving’ the prostate. I don’t think they do that surgery anymore. It became an issue again some years later and they gave him tablets. I assumed he was getting regular PSA tests but I do wonder if he’d just had it removed when it became enlarged again would he still be alive.
 
I've had a couple of these done, as I have routine annual blood tests, but the nurse said they could be inconclusive.
Yes that’s what my daughter was saying, they can point to problems which don’t actually exist and possibly miss problems that are there - unreliable I think is the word.

For those above who are having problems though it’s hard for anybody to argue against anything which might lead to early diagnosis and treatment.

Good luck everybody with and without prostate issues.
 
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