PSA test false positive

[Garion_55]

Has anyone ever done A PSA test Through your blood work and had a wildly out of bounds false positive number?

Supposedly normal ranges are 0 - 4.0

Mine just came back with a 36.

Reading up on these tests there are false positives anywhere from 40 to 70% of the time. Other things can affect the reading like alcohol usage and urinary tract infection.

Gonna speak to my Doctor about it tomorrow but wondered if anybody had come across a number that the Doctor said was a totally false positive. Supposedly there are better tests that you can get from a urologist

[OrlandoDem2]

1. I'm only a lay person but I've entered the age of my life where I've started PSA testing.

My guess is your doctor will call for a new test and await the results.

I cannot speak to the reliability of one test over another. I also cannot speak to “false positives”. As you’ve noted, results above 4 need further testing and observation. 36 is obviously very high and your doctor needs to follow up.

Do you have any recent tests in the past year?

Based on my own experience you’ll get another test and the doctor either refers you to a urologist or waits and watches. But I could be wrong.

[XanaDUer2]

2. I didn't

But I'm wishing you good health and that your true values are within normal ranges.

[louis-t]

3. I had a reading of 28 one time

but I was really sick. Some kind of blood infection. It was Oct. of 2001. They treated it with Ciperol, which is the antibiotic used to treat anthrax. So, right in the middle of 9/11, terrorists mailing anthrax etc, my office jokingly suggests I should be the one getting the mail for a while.

[unc70]

4. Probably prescribe antibiotics and retest

Cipro or such. If retest is still elevated, see a specialist quickly. Prostate cancer is a significant risk; don't get lulled by articles about false positives or about watchful waiting. (The underlying research in support of WW is primarily from several large but flawed Scandinavian studies.)

[CentralMass]

5. Having sex prior to, as even the night before, can affect the results

Or so says my urologist, who I trust.

[state of stupid]

6. Does Your doctor know about this reading? Do you have a history of readings above 4?

If not, he needs to reorder the test. Prostate cancer is not something to fool around with.
Be sure to ask what you need to do before the test. Do not be afraid to ask questions.

Here is a link that give the basics of how to prepare for the test. Be sure to ask if there are
any others your doctor would recommend.

https://www.roboticoncology.com/post/how-to-prepare-for-an-accurate-psa-test#:~:text=How%20to%20Prepare%20for%20an%20Accurate%20PSA%20Test,levels,%20leading%20to%20false-positive%20results.%20...%20More%20items

Good Luck