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As someone who has had prostate cancer, having had a radical prostatectomy at age 51, I'm troubled - bordering on irritated - by the narrative of these underlying stories focused on PSA.  The problem with unnecessary biopsies is not the PSA test, it's more likely the physician using the PSA test.  It's a screening test, and prostate cancer is the only significant cancer with such a simple, inexpensive screening tool.  Because of a gradual increase in PSA for someone my age, my urologist closely followed me for several years, doing repeat PSA tests and DREs.  After about 4 years of this monitoring, after the PSA had jumped again, he recommended a 4K blood test which calculates the odds that a biopsy will detect cancer.  The 4k test indicated elevated risk.  That's what drove the decision to finally do a biopsy.  And the biopsy detected cancer in 7 of 12 cores.  My PSA was only 2.6 at the time.  Significantly fewer men are dying from prostate cancer today as compared to the time prior to the PSA availability.  Prior to the ability to screen using the PSA test, most men discovered they had prostate cancer after it had already spread.  So the context is that the PSA test is an incredible screening tool, but needs to be used carefully by an informed physician.  There is already good data emerging that rates of more advanced prostate cancer are once again increasing, most likely due to this unfortunate narrative suggesting men stop getting a PSA test.


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