High PSA levels may show body is fighting cancer

[Mascouche]

I came across a series of similar studies that appear to indicate that a high PSA is not always bad news. Many of us have likely read or heard that a rising PSA can be an indicator that we have tumors dying off. These articles are NOT about that. They are about PSA actually preventing tumors from growing and metastasis from forming when it is motivated by the proper peptide or enzymic activity. So trying to lower the PSA, at least on people that still have a prostate, might not always be the best course of action.

From 1999: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/105...

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl....

From 2012: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/224...

From 2014: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/252...

If true, this reminds be a little of the wild goose chase in wanting to lower cholesterol in hope of lower heart attacks even though there is no actual indication that cholesterol causes it since ratio of high cholesterol vs low cholesterol in heart attack victims is about 50-50. It was like saying since we can find firemen at a lot of sites where there is a fire, then we should get rid of the firemen and there won't be no more fire.

[Justfor_]

It's a possibility. Past month I had an unexpected rise. Hoping to be a reaction for the anti-flu vaccine I had in late November. The (near) future will show.

[Tall_Allen]

The opposite seems to be true. PSA activates VEGF and is associated with tumor growth:

elifesciences.org/articles/...

europepmc.org/article/med/2...

[Mascouche in reply to Tall_Allen]

So psa can be causing cancer, or fighting cancer or not have a relationship to cancer... Doesn't this make the marker too much of a mess to use with clarity?

[Tall_Allen in reply to Mascouche]

No. It isn't causing cancer or fighting cancer. It's just a biomarker for prostate cancer because it is elevated as the cancer grows. Many cancers do not have biomarkers. We are lucky to be able to use it.

[Mascouche in reply to Tall_Allen]

Not always elevated as the cancer grows. It can be elevated as cancer dies and it can be low like below 2.5ng/ml for a Gleason 8 to 10 on some hormone resistant versions of the disease which are more lethal, no?

[Hidden in reply to Mascouche]

Interpreting PSA levels requires additional information about the person whose PSA is being evaluated. A PSA of 12 has a 50% chance of being caused by cancer. At PSA of 50 I believe is almost 100% being caused by cancer. We know that some PCA doesn't generate PSA. PSA is important on initial diagnosis. Once a man is diagnosed with PCA, the PSA can inform the patient and doctor how well the treatments are working.

PSA is just a tool in the toolbox for the URO, MO and RO. It is not necessarily a tool that can be used in all circumstances and, IMO, certainly shouldn't be over analyzed by the lay person.

[Tall_Allen in reply to Mascouche]

There are rare prostate cancers that don't express PSA, and it is not as elevated for high grade PC. Other biomarkers like ALP and LDH are added as well. It is briefly elevated when new therapies begin - but that is expected. There are also ways of treating PSA rather than treating the cancer. None of this negates its importance.