Doctors do not need to biopsy every man with a high PSA screening blood test for prostate cancer. Most patients become infected from the procedure, 20 percent suffer severe pain, 10 percent require strong pain medicines, and 15 percent of previously potent patients report that they can’t get an erection one month later
A high PSA is caused by prostate cancer, infection or enlargement. The only way to prove a prostate cancer is with a biopsy, but men with a high PSA and burning on urination or severe pain when their bladders are full are likely to have an infection, not cancer. If an infection is suspected, they should be given antibiotics and have their PSA blood test repeated. They should have a biopsy only if their PSA is still high or they have a nodule on their prostate or some other suspicious finding.
See Chronic Prostatitis Can Be Cured
