PSA the TLA you need to know.

In my career I’ve had to learn many a TLA (three letter acronyms), and of course, over time they morph into common parlance.

This is a short story about one I learned last year, and because it’s important I’m going to summarise: PSA stands for Prostate-Specific Antigen. It is a protein produced by both normal and malignant cells of the prostate gland, and its levels are measured in the blood to screen for and monitor prostate cancer. And if you have the opportunity, I’d recommend getting it checked. This is about how I did just that and the result changed my life.

I’m the bearer of this message but I should stress that I’m not medical; this is a personal story.

It doesn’t start with me, but my good friend and colleague Colin Parkes. Colin had noticed symptoms in the summer of 2023, and he wisely followed the signs. ?He ended up being diagnosed with prostate cancer in October 2023. He bravely and helpfully shared this with our team. I know that wouldn’t have been easy, but Colin knew we had his back and, as a team, would see him through this. At the time the only thing I could think to say was, “take what you need”. ?I was in shock, he was dealing with a massive reality shift, and all I could think of was ensuring he felt our support.

Colin took a good amount of advice and elected to have his prostate removed. ?He shared that part of the journey with me and, following surgery in November, came back to work in January.

That Christmas was a bit of a blur; as a team we had been working hard on a project, and to add another dimension to this story, it was our first family Christmas with our new infant foster daughter.

I had a health check due on the 2nd of January, and the only thing on my mind was to not overdo it on New Year’s Eve.

To shorten the story, having survived all the tests and done better than I would have thought, the GP suggested a PSA test. I wasn’t yet 50 and had none of the published symptoms for prostate cancer, but I thought since they already had my blood, I should get it checked. Colin’s experience brought it front of mind.

A week or so later I got the results, the PSA was 12, versus being below 2, which is good. Time to start worrying, but with the result came a warning that it’s wrong 70% of the time… but let’s do an urology follow up just in case. A urologist referral and MRI later, the odds drop to 50% it could be a thing. Next step biopsy……………

We are now in April, and sadly I found myself on the end of a positive cancer diagnosis. I can’t properly articulate how all that felt . Sorrow, fear, regret, loss, fight or flight.

I chose to fight, and, thanks to amazing (words fall short) support of family, friends and colleagues in work, I’m undergoing treatment, with excellent care from the nurses and doctors.

I’m on a different journey to Colin’s, one of radiotherapy and drugs, but I hope for a similar outcome. Oncologists paint the future in survivability percentages and my odds are good, though it is always hard to know. The only thing I do know was, if I hadn’t checked, that my journey would be very different. Early detection is everything; my lack of symptoms was no indication of seriousness, but rather the opposite - the danger was cloaked.?

So I return to where I started; if you have the opportunity get your PSA checked, please do. It’s a three letter acronym worth knowing, and a test worth having.

And wherever your journey takes you, please pass it on.

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More helpful guidance available at Prostate Cancer UK | Prostate Cancer UK