I've seen a couple of posts showing concern about high PSA numbers .. just want to make sure there is some understanding about it..

just like any hormone, chemical or any other thing in your body every person has a different baseline PSA level. For example, I could have a baseline PSA level of 2 and this is normal for me.. and another person could have a baseline PSA of 7 and that is normal for him. Even though 7 is still high as a baseline the PSA number IS NOT indicitive of cancer.

So how can you use PSA to indicate the likelihood of cancer?

Lets look at two different people...

example 1 has a PSA of 1 as baseline and sees it increase to 2 over six months..

example 2 has a PSA of 7 as baseline and sees it increase to 9 over six months..

now most people would assume that a higher PSA indicates higher probability of cancer.. that is incorrect..

actually example 1 has a higher probability of cancer because he has seen his PSA double from baseline. DOUBLING of your PSA baseline is the indicator to look for if concerned about cancer.

that being said this is just one factor that they use and its just an indicator, just one of the more reliable ones.

hope this helps everyone for future use.