should i do a prostate biopsy

[plinko]

i am male 6 0  last year my PSA was 0.9  last week it was 1.8

[Kimidawn]

I totally agree with LarryBoy820 and I am also under the conviction that Doctors and other medical professionals got their talent and knowledge from God and God wants us to use that to help us in our lives.  Maybe you could ask your spiritual adviser why he said no and if it is spiritual or personal and then I'd get a second opinion and some medical advice.  God Bless

[LarryBoy820]

So you are religous and your spiritual adviser says don't do it...
I don't really know what you believe but seeing a doctor or having a medical procedure does not mean you don't have faith. Remember, Luke "the beloved physcian" and author of the third book of the NT was a doctor. If God did not approve of doctors he would probably not have referred to Luke by his profession and called him beloved. Also Paul dispensed medical advice to a young pastor named Timothy (probably at the suggestion of Luke who often accompanied Paul).

Pray about it if you feel comfortable about having the biopsy do it.

[BaldiR]

You don't have to commit yes or no at this stage.
Take another PSA in about 6 months.
If it rises again, I would definitely advise a biopsy.

[plinko]

thank you

  I am religious person, i asked my spiritual adviser,

  he said do not do it he gave no reason, so i thank you again

                                                                                      Leo

[HeinrikMD]

Hi,

There are two things to consider here. One is the PSA threshold for performing the biopsy. A common practice would be to do it when the PSA is 4 or higher. So in your case, the common practice would be not to have it done. A problem, is that there really isn’t a value of PSA where absence of cancer can be guaranteed, so strictly speaking there is no normal value of PSA. There is only a threshold by which, the odds of finding a cancer would be big enough.

The other thing is that there is a doubling of the value over a year. There is information that men with prostate cancer who have such values may need more radical intervention. However, these are men with known cancer already, and hence, their data do not really apply in your setting.

Screening for prostate cancer is not recommended as it has not been shown to improve overall survival. But it is offered, as it may give men more options and empower them with these options. It is therefore a shared decision between you and your doctor. Hence, you should discuss at length, the thresholds where such things as a biopsy would be advised, and whether such risks and risk reductions would be acceptable to you.