Sorry to hear that your father has now joined this club. But since 1 in 5 men 40 & over have a form of prostate cancer, that most men of 60 have it and all men over 80 have it he has joined a club with a large membership. As you have probably read elsewhere, most men die with rather than of prostate cancer.
Regarding your particular question, I was diagnosed, at age 63, with prostate cancer and after my PSA tests in March & April suggested further investigation was warranted ( PSA test 10/03/21 came out at 5.32 & on 12/04/21 at 5.76), I had an MRI scan on 21/04/21 and was telephoned with the result on 30/04/21 ( If interested, the results are on my profile). Now, ordinarily, I should have had a biopsy within 2 weeks of that telephone call but,instead, received a letter from Addenbrookes on 11/05/21 advising that due to backlogs caused by Covid that there would be a delay; and that they were unable to advise when an appointment for my biopsy would be made. I was just about to push the button for having a private biopsy (cost around £4.5K) when I received a phone call from the hospital advising that I was booked in for my biopsy on 04/06/21- some 3 weeks later than it should have been under the NHS guidelines. I asked the surgeon who undertook my biopsy whether there would be a delay if urgent treatment was needed and was told that I could, if needed, have surgery within 2 weeks.
Because prostate cancer is usually slow growing ( a single slow growing cancer cell can take over 400 days to form, meaning that a 1 cm lesion on a prostate could be 40 years old) a few weeks/months delay in being diagnosed etc, though cause for concern for the patient, does not usually affect his prognosis. That said, I would certainly contact the hospital for an update if I had not heard anything by the middle of July.
It would be useful to know what you father has actually had done. You say his PSA is within the normal range for his age (it does go up as one gets older) but what is it? Also, I assume that he has only had the finger up the bottom to feel the prostate but has not yet had an MRI scan or a biopsy? Also, useful to know is how old your father is?
Edited by member 11 Jul 2021 at 20:48
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