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Declining treatment - been told I may have prostate cancer. Been referred for biopsy but have heard it's painful and unpleasant

Watt
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I suspect this may be a difficult question and am happy for moderators to remove it if considered inappropriate. I am seventy years old, I live on my own and have no relatives within a hundred miles, my GP identified that I may have prostate cancer from high PSA levels in a blood test and referred me for further tests by a Urology specialist at my local hospital. I have had an MRI that I haven't been told the details of but have now been referred for a biopsy that I believe is unpleasant,painful and potentially dangerous and wonder in the the event of a negative result what impact treatment will have on my quality and length of life as opposed to not having treatment and letting nature take it's course.

Parents
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    Hi Watt, 

    Your at 

    A prostate biopsy should be neither painful nor potentially dangerous, whatever you’ve been told is the case. See https://prostatecanceruk.org/prostate-information-and-support/prostate-tests/prostate-biopsy


    Your oncologist should be happy to discuss the pros and cons of the different available options with you. Depending on how far advanced and how fast growing it is, the advice different patients receive is wide-ranging. Your medical team won’t really know what they’re dealing with without a needle biopsy.

    I’ve know friends who have been advised that doing nothing is the best option because they’re more likely to die with it than of it. Other friends have been advised that without urgent surgery they’ll be in a lot of pain before dying in a matter of weeks. 

    Accepting treatment for any cancer is obviously a matter of individual choice, but obviously it’s always better to make as informed a decision as you can. 

    Good luck
    Dave

  • Offline in reply to davek

    That should start with “You’re at one of the most worrying stages of the cancer journey”.

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