Hello, everyone.
I'm relatively new, only having joined this panel/group some time around February, at which time I had a biopsy to check my prostate, after having had a couple/few consecutive PSA tests that revealed only slightly elevated PSA levels (two consecutive 4.0 readings with my primary care physician and a 4.9 reading several months later, with a local urologist).
The biopsy came back positive, with a Gleason score of 7 (3+4). My urologist agreed to proceed with active monitoring, with an MRI to be the next step. He also verbally recommended that I get a second opinion, which I was going to do whether he said anything, or not.
I am in the U.S. and live relatively close (enough) to one of the Mayo Clinic hospitals. They are one of the top cancer facilities in the U.S., and so I understand, the world. So, I made an appointment with them, traveled to see them and met with my now-new urologist and had my MRI.
Interestingly (hence the title of this post), my MRI results revealed no cancer. The doctor who read the MRI said they found no cancer, and said that everything seen within the MRI, the measured size of my prostate (46 cc from the MRI), the PSA readings, etc., is consistent with BPH. I was 58-years-old when the MRI was performed, having just in the past several weeks turned 59.
Obviously, I was very happy and relieved to see the test results. I know of no prostate cancer having occurred within my family, and this is on both of my parents' sides. I did not, at all, expect the positive reading from the biopsy. My urologist who performed the biopsy also told me he did not expect to have found cancer, especially with the very low PSA readings. He figured it was most likely just an enlarged prostate.
My urologist with Mayo Clinic had also requested that my biopsy slides/images be sent to them for their review. Mayo received and reviewed them, and said they agreed with the original stated findings of a Gleason 7 (3+4).
That being said, my urologist with Mayo Clinic told me that the MRI results "look really good" and we're going to go forward with active monitoring, with my having a six-month appointment, and I believe he said they would check PSA levels and perform a digital rectal exam. I'm figuring another MRI will be probably at the one year mark (??).
Anyway, I say all of this to share with you that I'm sort of scratching my head regarding the clean MRI... scratching it happily, none the less. I'm wondering if it is even possible for there to be prostate cancer present and it not be picked up by an MRI. It leads me to question to biopsy results, especially in that I have FAR greater trust in the folk at Mayo Clinic.
I guess time will tell what is the truth. At this point I'm just very glad that doctors aren't trying to steer me toward surgery. Granted, if/when the time comes that we do need to go that route, so be it. I feel much, much better working with the folk at Mayo Clinic than those here locally.
