The PSA Test may have saved my life

Life will throw you curveballs.

I learned over the course of recent months that I am one of the 270,000 men who will be diagnosed with prostate cancer every year. Without the PSA test, I might be walking around with a ticking time bomb. On Thursday, I will have surgery to remove this uninvited visitor.

Cancer is a scary word because it’s too often wrongly associated with the final chapter. While some cancers are aggressive, others are slow-moving moving like sloths. My point of view is cancer is another of life’s many challenges just like heart disease, diabetes, COVID, and many other illnesses.

I’d be lying if I wrote that this diagnosis did not raise awareness of my mortality. Every breath we take from the moment we are born takes us a step closer to the final destination, but awareness of the journey is most apparent when one can see the end of the road.

For me, that view is still on the horizon. Far enough away that I know I still have time, but close enough to heighten my senses not to waste a minute. I do not fear death but I love life. I have had a wonderful life.

But, I do not want this news to be about me as much as I wish to elevate awareness of the PSA Test. It is as valuable to men over 40 as a mammogram is for women.

Prostate cancer is the second most deadly to men, but it’s also the most survived — if it’s caught early. An annual PSA test makes that possible because otherwise, you might not be aware what’s happening on the inside. Like so many others, I have no major symptoms and am generally in good health.

I have been an advocate for PSA testing since my friend and WPVI colleague Gary Papa was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2003 and a careful watcher of my own prostate health as my dad is a survivor. His diagnosis likely raised my risk of getting it.

While my prognosis is good, I want to stress without the PSA test, I would be unaware that I had anything growing inside me. Ben Stiller, who was 48 when diagnosed, has a similar story and shared how the PSA saved his life.

Please help to spread the word and encourage men in their 40s and older to get this test, even if the doctor says they don’t need it.

I was reminded why awareness is so important after one person recently asked me after learning my diagnosis, “What’s PSA?”

Good question. It’s prostate-specific antigen — a protein produced by both cancerous and noncancerous tissue in the prostate.

A test measures how much PSA is in your blood.

Normal PSA ranges by age, but in general the number should be below 4.0.

My PSA rose over the course of the last year from high 3s to 4.7. Once it’s over 4, your doctor may want to do an MRI to take a closer look.

If the MRI shows anything, then a biopsy is ordered, and results determine your course of action or treatment.

There is debate over who should get a PSA test. My feeling is all men over 40 should get the test at least to know their baseline but also because they could have cancer without any symptoms. Prostate cancer grows slowly and silently, and eventually can metastasize.

You can learn a lot more about the PSA test and prostate health by visiting the National Cancer Institute.

Raise awareness about this important test and make the world a better place.