Richard Lobb, Writer and Editor, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“Prostate cancer with a Gleason score of 9 out of 10 (grade group 5), with spread to the bone, in an 81-year-old man, is pretty bad news. His medical team will consider all the treatment options – surgery, hormone treatment, radiation, chemotherapy. He’s in for a rough road.
I hope this serves as a reminder to all men over the age of 50 to talk to their doctor about a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test. This is a simple blood test, nothing invasive. The number you get isn’t important by itself. It’s usually pretty low, but a variety of non-cancer conditions can cause it to be quite high.
What’s important is the ‘delta,’ the change in the PSA score over time. Mine went from 3 to 5, which didn’t sound like a big deal to me. But my doctor sent me to a urologist for further assessment. To put it simply, I had early-stage prostate cancer that was successfully treated with radiation. I still get my PSA checked to guard against reoccurrence.
So guys if you haven’t done it already, tell your doctor you want to know your PSA. This can save you a whole lot of hurt.”
Read the article on “Joe Biden Diagnosed with Aggressive Metastatic Prostate Cancer at Age 82” in OncoDaily.