An elevated or quickly rising PSA may indicate that a man has prostate cancer. Physicians thereby normally recommend that a patient with a high or quickly rising PSA undergo a biopsy.
You will find, nevertheless, two main difficulties with a biopsy. First a biopsy checks only a part of the prostate. Therefore the a biopsy could yield a false negative and not catch the cancer. Second, biopsies have risks, like the danger of infection and the risk of substantial bleeding.
As a result of of these 2 factors certain physicians to advise that male patients with a high PSA pursue a program of “watchful waiting.” This is an approach where the doctor periodically monitors the patient’s elevated PSA over a period of months or even years. In this time certain doctors suggest that the man try non cancer related therapies, for example, for infection, based on the possibility that if the PSA is elevatedhigh for a reason rather than prostate cancer such treatments might return the PSA back to normal levels.
What can go wrong with this approach? The doctor could wait too long without advising that the patient undergo a biopsy. As the PSA goes up the likelihood grows that the rising levels result from prostate cancer, as does the likelihood that the cancer will spread outside of the prostate gland resulting in a finding of advanced prostate cancer.
If a physician, by advocating that the individual delay instead of immediately doing diagnostic testing, causes a scenario where the cancer progresses and gets to metastasis, a cancer lawyer can assist you determine whether you might have a medical negligence claim against that doctor.
If the cancer is not detected until the late stages, when it has spread beyond the prostate, there is at the current time no known cure. How many of the men who will die this year from metastatic prostate cancer could have survived if only their physician had screened them instead of advising “watchful waiting”?
The preceeding is merely general information that is easily obtainable and is intended for basic educational uses only. It is not medical advice. Confer with with a doctor if you have any health related concerns and before taking any medical advice. In addition, the above is also not legal advice. Consult with an attorney about any potential legal concerns.
