psa test

Jonboy you are so right about ALL mens cancers, sometimes I think its almost discrimination wehn women get screened for so many things (and they deserve everything they can get) and we men are supposed to ask for ours BUT how can we when we often dont have any symptoms . I am interested in what you say about the urine test for bladder cancer. Is there a home testing kit for it?

Why does our health service say diagnosing a cancer early gives the best chance of a cure YET when it comes to mens cancers bladder, prostate, testicular etc we have no screning programmes which means mens cancers tend to be diagnosed at a later stage. Maybe mens cancers are just not sexy enough!! We men need the support of our women to get a better deal for us. Anyone got any ideas how to get our message heard?

Keith

Hi Keith...The urinre tests that i took in came back with blood in them..which can be a sign of just a urine infection or kidney stones...but some of mine came back with proten in them which i think is some sort of sign that its more than an infection ..not sure if the cancer feeds off it or it produces it....that why i had so many samples tested..don.t  think it came back in every one...but for me thinks it should have beed picked up quicker....

  johnb...

Sorry but here comes a rant at the end!!

Im sure you are right that protein in urine is a sign of many things including prostate cancer the PSA which is an indicator of prostate problems is in fact a protein and there is a test called the PCA3 where a urine sample is taken after physical manipulation of the prostate gland, this is not standard practice in prostate cancer but is considered to be a better indicator when used in conjunction with the PSA blood test.

Jeepers we men should be made more aware by our GPs of the problems that may face us when we get past 40. I think of that great rugby player Andy Ripley for whom it was too late he knew nothing about prostate cancer and it ended his life, John Hartson a fantastic footballer ignored the signs of testicular cancer it so very nearly cost him his life SO many men we pass in the street will die because we just didnt know the risk YET the GPs know the risks so why arent they telling us as they are the custodians of our health?

Keith

Absolutely agree with PSA being routinely tested.  Most men do not go to the doctor's for no reason.  So if a previously healthy man who had never (ever) had antibiotics in his 51 years, who seldom visited the GP, suddenly gets a range of ailments and visits his GP several times in the space of a couple of months, why did that GP assume my husband had kidney stones and order a scan for 6 weeks time rather than order a simple blood/urine test?  Richard's PSA was 1900 on diagnosis.  Too late?  Probably.

hi country girl i do agree with you there should of been no assuming and guessing the gp should have done test straight away when my hubby had his biopsy done on the thusday11/2/2010 on the saturday the appointment came through for him to see the consultant for the 17th march we both decided well it cant be cancer as that is a long time to wait it was the most awfull time of our lives in the meantime i had to go to the gp so i mentioned it a couple of days later a new appointment popped through the door only a week earlier but it was a week sooner in getting treated alot of this all comes down to money its just not good enough when its someones life