Interesting! I wonder about the pap test too, where they used to advise women not to have intercourse for 48 hours before and not be scheduled during menstruation. Now there is no such advisement, and I have to wonder if some of the repeat or more frequent cervical testing (for an abnormal yet not cancerous or even suspicious result) could simply be from physical cervical irritation from intercourse within the 48 hours before a test.
Also, thank you for sharing this and congratulations on being cancer free for 30 years! I hope it helps other men and that good information is not censored.
Really appreciated this reading. The hardest part about PSA screening is that it’s neither “always do it” nor “never do it”; it’s a risk-stratified, values-based decision.
From a physician-scientist lens, the most helpful framing for readers is:
1. PSA is a risk signal, not a diagnosis.
2. The goal is to detect clinically meaningful cancers early while minimizing harms from overdiagnosis/overtreatment.
3. Context matters: age, family history, ancestry, urinary symptoms, prior PSA trajectory, and (increasingly) tools like repeat PSA, %free PSA, PSA density/velocity, mpMRI, and targeted biopsy to reduce unnecessary procedures.
Thanks for translating a polarizing topic into something decision-quality and patient-centered!
Interesting! I wonder about the pap test too, where they used to advise women not to have intercourse for 48 hours before and not be scheduled during menstruation. Now there is no such advisement, and I have to wonder if some of the repeat or more frequent cervical testing (for an abnormal yet not cancerous or even suspicious result) could simply be from physical cervical irritation from intercourse within the 48 hours before a test.
Also, thank you for sharing this and congratulations on being cancer free for 30 years! I hope it helps other men and that good information is not censored.
Really appreciated this reading. The hardest part about PSA screening is that it’s neither “always do it” nor “never do it”; it’s a risk-stratified, values-based decision.
From a physician-scientist lens, the most helpful framing for readers is:
1. PSA is a risk signal, not a diagnosis.
2. The goal is to detect clinically meaningful cancers early while minimizing harms from overdiagnosis/overtreatment.
3. Context matters: age, family history, ancestry, urinary symptoms, prior PSA trajectory, and (increasingly) tools like repeat PSA, %free PSA, PSA density/velocity, mpMRI, and targeted biopsy to reduce unnecessary procedures.
Thanks for translating a polarizing topic into something decision-quality and patient-centered!
THanks.
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