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Next step biopsy

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User
Posted 19 Jan 2020 at 18:54

Hi, looking to get some information here from people who have walked the walk, in 2007 ( age 44 )  I went to my GP with problems urinating, I had some blood tests done and came back PSA 12, my PSA went down from 7 to 1 had a DRE with a consultant and he advised that he wasn’t concerned. Roll on 12 years, in sept qq19  during a health check with practice nurse I discussed this and had a PSA test done came back as 5.0, had another test 6 weeks later came back as 5.3, spoke to GP and told him that I thought I had a UTI, he prescribed an antibiotic and referred me to urology, spoke to urology consultant and he discussed prostate cancer with and said rather than do a biopsy he would initially do an MRI and then if need be a biopsy, had the MRI on 20/12/19 and now having template biopsy on 24/1/20, I have no symptoms, the Consultant said that they had to find out why my PSA was 5, should I be concerned ? I must admit I am really concerned about this, thanks for listening 

User
Posted 21 Jan 2020 at 16:29
Hi, I was diagnosed in September 2019 and only because I went to my GP for the first time in 3 1/2 years about something totally unrelated. The young newly qualified GP read my notes and suggested I have a PSA test because I had been diagnosed with an enlarged prostate in 2014 and was not on any medication. No-one had ever mentioned getting my PSA checked before this! It came back at 5.2 so I then had the digital rectal examination, nurse said it felt normal and to have another PSA test done in case the 5.2 was an anomaly. Next one was 6.0 so they said I should have an MRI scan, this showed abnormalities so a prostate biopsy was arranged. Two weeks later I went back got the results and was told it was prostate cancer T2 and Gleason score of 9. Fortunately I have been able to go private and had a PSMA scan in Harley Street (I live in Scotland) to back up the NHS bone scan to check it had not spread and I am dealing with the cancer being contained in the prostate. My oncologist arranged for me to have the SpaceOAR hydrogel inserted in a Harley Street Hospital too to protect the bowel from the radiotherapy which starts on 10th Feb, 20 sessions over 4 weeks. I had the gold seeds (fiducial markers) inserted in the Prostate at the same time, all under General Anaesthetic.

When I was diagnosed it was a complete shock and the first few weeks were filled with worry, tears, fear and googling! Once you begin to understand what you have, the treatment options and the outlook, which for me is good, you calm down and get on with it. When I received my radiotherapy schedule it all becomes a bit real but also it gives you a focus and an end date. I am also on hormone treatment (bicalutamide) and will be for 2 years, but after 9 weeks I had another PSA test and it had reduced to 1.7 effectively stemming the growth of the cancer and giving the radiotherapy the best chance of success.

Good luck with the biopsy and I hope your results are good. No matter what, there is treatment available and when it’s caught in time it is a very treatable cancer.

Best wishes.

User
Posted 19 Jan 2020 at 21:00

Sounds like you're in good hands, and always best to take whatever they offer so you know for certain one way or the other.  You can't have too many checks no matter how inconvenient they may be!  I had no symptoms from my cancer, it was found purely by chance.  PSA was, and still is, low and DREs detected no abnormality.  Only the MRIs and the subsequent biopsies uncovered the truth.  Hope yours turns out to be clear, but on the positive side, if it doesn't then they will have caught it at an early stage and you will have numerous treatment options open to you.  Try not to worry.

User
Posted 19 Jan 2020 at 20:22

It is now normal to have an MRI before any biopsy, as they target the biopsy to any suspicious areas the MRI flags up. The template biopsy (which is the expensive one, and it's great they're doing that) suggests either that the MRI hasn't shown anything so they are mapping the whole prostate, or that any area of concern was out of reach of a TRUS biopsy (anterior (front) or apex (bottom) of the prostate). Did they tell you the PIRADS or Likert score from the MRI report (a number between 1 and 5)?

I'm afraid you just have to wait for the tests and results at this point - it is a worrying time. Here's hoping you get the all clear.

User
Posted 11 Feb 2020 at 20:43

Good luck for tomorrow! I had that day on the 10th September 2019. When I was told the news it was a shock and the next few days/weeks were fraught with all sorts of emotions and dark thoughts. If you are diagnosed with PCa then the only advice I can give is to not rush into making any choice of treatment until you have had time to digest the diagnosis, read as much as you can about the options and ask your medical team as many questions as you can think of. 
I felt I was being pushed towards surgery and removal of the prostate by the urology nurse before I even knew anything about what I had just been diagnosed with. To be honest my first reaction was ‘Cut it out of me’!  Fortunately (although I didn’t think that at the time) I was also diagnosed with Deep Vein Thrombosis in my left leg at the same time so the operation was off the table due to high risk of clotting. I was initially extremely disappointed as I thought surgery would be quickest fix, but now in hindsight I am glad that decision was made for me. I have been on hormones (bicalutamide) for 4 months now, my PSA came down from 6 to 1.7 after 9 weeks, and I have had my second of 20 Radiotherapy sessions this afternoon. I benefitted from having SpaceOAR Hydrogel injected on the 14th Jan to protect the bowel from radiation and at the same time I had the gold markers inserted in the prostate. I feel strangely relaxed about the whole process now and I am counting down to the 9th March when I have my last RT. We fly to Prague for a 4 night break on the 15th with a group of 14 friends, can’t wait! 
Best of luck tomorrow though and let us know how it goes when you feel ready. Feel free to message me if you have any questions about my diagnosis and treatment. I’m certainly no expert but at least can tell you what I have been through.
Cheers 

Bryan

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User
Posted 19 Jan 2020 at 20:22

It is now normal to have an MRI before any biopsy, as they target the biopsy to any suspicious areas the MRI flags up. The template biopsy (which is the expensive one, and it's great they're doing that) suggests either that the MRI hasn't shown anything so they are mapping the whole prostate, or that any area of concern was out of reach of a TRUS biopsy (anterior (front) or apex (bottom) of the prostate). Did they tell you the PIRADS or Likert score from the MRI report (a number between 1 and 5)?

I'm afraid you just have to wait for the tests and results at this point - it is a worrying time. Here's hoping you get the all clear.

User
Posted 19 Jan 2020 at 20:49

Thanks so much for your reply, the Consultant went over so much on the day explaining the procedure that there were parts of it that I wasn’t clear on but you have cleared this up for me.

User
Posted 19 Jan 2020 at 21:00

Sounds like you're in good hands, and always best to take whatever they offer so you know for certain one way or the other.  You can't have too many checks no matter how inconvenient they may be!  I had no symptoms from my cancer, it was found purely by chance.  PSA was, and still is, low and DREs detected no abnormality.  Only the MRIs and the subsequent biopsies uncovered the truth.  Hope yours turns out to be clear, but on the positive side, if it doesn't then they will have caught it at an early stage and you will have numerous treatment options open to you.  Try not to worry.

User
Posted 20 Jan 2020 at 17:07

Apologies Andy 62, I wasn’t given any results from the MRI, I was contacted by a nurse and offered the biopsy which I immediately accepted.

User
Posted 21 Jan 2020 at 16:29
Hi, I was diagnosed in September 2019 and only because I went to my GP for the first time in 3 1/2 years about something totally unrelated. The young newly qualified GP read my notes and suggested I have a PSA test because I had been diagnosed with an enlarged prostate in 2014 and was not on any medication. No-one had ever mentioned getting my PSA checked before this! It came back at 5.2 so I then had the digital rectal examination, nurse said it felt normal and to have another PSA test done in case the 5.2 was an anomaly. Next one was 6.0 so they said I should have an MRI scan, this showed abnormalities so a prostate biopsy was arranged. Two weeks later I went back got the results and was told it was prostate cancer T2 and Gleason score of 9. Fortunately I have been able to go private and had a PSMA scan in Harley Street (I live in Scotland) to back up the NHS bone scan to check it had not spread and I am dealing with the cancer being contained in the prostate. My oncologist arranged for me to have the SpaceOAR hydrogel inserted in a Harley Street Hospital too to protect the bowel from the radiotherapy which starts on 10th Feb, 20 sessions over 4 weeks. I had the gold seeds (fiducial markers) inserted in the Prostate at the same time, all under General Anaesthetic.

When I was diagnosed it was a complete shock and the first few weeks were filled with worry, tears, fear and googling! Once you begin to understand what you have, the treatment options and the outlook, which for me is good, you calm down and get on with it. When I received my radiotherapy schedule it all becomes a bit real but also it gives you a focus and an end date. I am also on hormone treatment (bicalutamide) and will be for 2 years, but after 9 weeks I had another PSA test and it had reduced to 1.7 effectively stemming the growth of the cancer and giving the radiotherapy the best chance of success.

Good luck with the biopsy and I hope your results are good. No matter what, there is treatment available and when it’s caught in time it is a very treatable cancer.

Best wishes.

User
Posted 29 Jan 2020 at 16:28

So had my template biopsy on Friday, prior to the procedure the Urology consultant explained where I am so far and the next steps, he explained the MRI Scan and that I was a score of 3 on PIRADS, he explained that the MRI had shown up 4 areas which they couldn’t explain and he wanted to take biopsy’s from them so I then had the template procedure done which I must say wasn’t nearly as uncomfortable as the information sheet had suggested, it took about 15 mins, so now I have a 3 week wait to see where I am 

User
Posted 10 Feb 2020 at 10:36

So I am now meeting my Consultant on Wednesday at 12:15 to go through the results of my biopsy, can’t say anymore than that but must say that now I have a date for this I can think about little else, just need to get it over with

User
Posted 11 Feb 2020 at 20:43

Good luck for tomorrow! I had that day on the 10th September 2019. When I was told the news it was a shock and the next few days/weeks were fraught with all sorts of emotions and dark thoughts. If you are diagnosed with PCa then the only advice I can give is to not rush into making any choice of treatment until you have had time to digest the diagnosis, read as much as you can about the options and ask your medical team as many questions as you can think of. 
I felt I was being pushed towards surgery and removal of the prostate by the urology nurse before I even knew anything about what I had just been diagnosed with. To be honest my first reaction was ‘Cut it out of me’!  Fortunately (although I didn’t think that at the time) I was also diagnosed with Deep Vein Thrombosis in my left leg at the same time so the operation was off the table due to high risk of clotting. I was initially extremely disappointed as I thought surgery would be quickest fix, but now in hindsight I am glad that decision was made for me. I have been on hormones (bicalutamide) for 4 months now, my PSA came down from 6 to 1.7 after 9 weeks, and I have had my second of 20 Radiotherapy sessions this afternoon. I benefitted from having SpaceOAR Hydrogel injected on the 14th Jan to protect the bowel from radiation and at the same time I had the gold markers inserted in the prostate. I feel strangely relaxed about the whole process now and I am counting down to the 9th March when I have my last RT. We fly to Prague for a 4 night break on the 15th with a group of 14 friends, can’t wait! 
Best of luck tomorrow though and let us know how it goes when you feel ready. Feel free to message me if you have any questions about my diagnosis and treatment. I’m certainly no expert but at least can tell you what I have been through.
Cheers 

Bryan

User
Posted 13 Feb 2020 at 09:27

I had my meeting yesterday to discuss the results of my biopsy, not the results that I had hoped for we are where we are, staging is Gleason 3+4 , 4 out of 10 cores involved and % tissue 25 %.

i had actually prepared myself to be told that I had PC but when the specialist nurse to,d me that cancer had been found it was still a big shock.

i have been offered 3 types of treatment,

1. Radical Prostatectomy.

2. External Beam Radiotherapy.

3.Permanent Seed Brachytherapy.

 

Have been given loads of literature and information to assist me in making my decision so any information on experiences etc. would be much appreciated.

i will probably copy this onto the treatment page as well as I am not pat the symptoms stage.

Regards

D

 

 

 
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