I've usually been over in the lung cancer forum so this is my first time in this one. I'm 52 and last Feb I was having prostate problems so my Doc had my PSA done (was 0.9) and the rectal digital test (slightly enlarged) and a abdomen CT scan which was neg for prostate problems but they found I had lung cancer. Since then I have had my right middle lobe and nearby nodes removed and so far my lungs have stayed clean. PET scan last March showed no mets. I'm still having prostate problems - getting up a lot at night to pee, chronic groin and/or kidney pain, and chronic UTI that goes away with antibiotics but eventually comes back. So he sends me for an ultrasound last week and my kidneys and bladder look ok but said there are "multiple masses" in my prostate. I am now waiting to get a biopsy done. The Doc said it might just be stones and they could cause my symptoms but could also be cancer as the stones usually take a while to form and appearantly they were not there in the CT scan in Feb. I guess I wanted to know what to expect from other peoples experiences etc..

Thanks,
Dave

Dave, with having such a low PSA as you have it would be hard to believe those "multiple masses" are prostate tumors. I had a PSA of 4.3 and when the prostate was removed no tumors were visible. When they sliced it up thats when they identified the cancerous part. Tumors along with a few other things is what cause the prostate to leak PSA.

Regards
Kurt

My PSA hasn't been checked since Feb and at that time the CT showed no masses in my prostate so maybe things may have changed since then...

Dave

Dave,

Most of the folks on this board have experience with typical prostate cancer, which tends to spew out a lot of PSA when it is active. However, from what I understand, there are other conditions, such as what your doctor mentioned, as well as rarer forms of prostate cancer, such as the small cell forms. The most important thing is to get the best urologist you can find to do the diagnosis, someone who is well versed in the latest prostate research. Hopefully you are just dealing with a benign condition.

7s

Well, they just called and set my biopsy up for Nov 16. I am surprised they haven't checked my PSA again as it hasn't been checked since Feb. Whatever the ultrasound showed wasn't there in Feb when they gave me a abdomen CT. I didn't think stones would form that quickly, especially more than one. Guess I'll find out in a week or so..

Dave

A PSA taken soon after a thorough ultrasound would not be very accurate, anyhow, because all of that mechanical disturbance to the prostate can raise your PSA for weeks. Given your history of cancer, I think the doctors are trying to be proactive in diagnosing these apparent masses. I'm hoping that they are benign, and simply were not visible on the previous CT scan.

It was my gp that had ordered the ultrasound that found the masses and he set me up with a urologist for a biopsy. I went to my initial appointment with the urologist and she decided she wanted to do another DRE and another ultrasound first. After the new ultrasound she said she was confident it wasn't cancer and was just calcification (stones) because they left "shadows" on the ultrasound she did and she said cancer doesn't do that. The DRE and ultrasound showed my prostate was enlarged to about 40 grams (normal is about 25). She also had me empty my bladder and then scan it to see if it was really emptying and it wasn't as there was still 70ml left in it. She says the Claratin D I took prior to all this probably either caused the symptoms or at least aggravated it. I didn't know I had an enlarged prostate at the time I was taking it and Claratin D can aggravate an enlarged prostate a lot it seems. Even though I haven't taken it since before last Feb she says the damage it causes is usually permanent so its not likely to get better on its own. She wants to try me on a long term antibiotic as she says trying to remove the stones usually causes more problems than it fixes.

Dave

Hey, thanks for the update. I'm glad it does not appear to be cancer. I hope the antibiotics clear up the flow problem. Good luck,

7s