Ben Stiller credits prostate cancer test for saving his life

[webfact]

Ben Stiller credits prostate cancer test for saving his life 

 

NEW YORK (AP) — Ben Stiller on Tuesday revealed that he battled prostate cancer in 2014, and he credits the test that diagnosed the cancer with saving his life.

 

In an essay posted on the website Medium , Stiller recounted his experience with prostate cancer in detail. He compared the moment of being informed by his urologist that he had cancer to his own "Breaking Bad" scene.

 

"His voice literally faded out like every movie or TV show about a guy being told he had cancer ... a classic Walter White moment, except I was me and no one was filming anything at all," wrote Stiller.

 

Stiller is now cancer-free and he believes that would never have happened without a PSA or prostate-specific antigen test. Stiller said he wanted to tell his story in support of the much-debated test.

 

Stiller had his PSA test when he was 46, four years before the American Cancer Society recommends. Many experts say a PSA can do as much harm as good. PSA tests are imprecise, and they can lead to unnecessary treatment of nonlethal cancers.

 

But PSA tests can be a useful early indicator of prostate cancer, which affects one in six men. The American Cancer Society recommends men discuss the test with their doctor at age 50, though those with higher risk for prostate cancer should start the discussion earlier.

 

In Stiller's case, he was given a PSA test for more than a year and a half. As his numbers rose,Stiller was sent to a urologist for examination, then given an MRI and eventually a biopsy that came back positive.

 

"This is a complicated issue, and an evolving one," Stiller wrote. "But in this imperfect world, I believe the best way to determine a course of action for the most treatable, yet deadly cancer, is to detect it early."

 

Stiller led the essay with a photo of himself, in a famously painful encounter with a pants zipper, from "There's Something About Mary."

 

-- © Associated Press 2016-10-05

[impulse]

Maybe the test saved his life.

 

Maybe it just pointed to a condition that afflicts pretty much every man who lives long enough, but causes problems for only a small percentage of them.  In which case, the cure is worse than the disease.

 

Hard to say...

[simple1]

2 hours ago, impulse said:

Maybe the test saved his life.

 

Maybe it just pointed to a condition that afflicts pretty much every man who lives long enough, but causes problems for only a small percentage of them.  In which case, the cure is worse than the disease.

 

Hard to say...

 

In Oz Prostate Cancer is the number one cause of death by cancer for men.

 

I watched an interview with Stiller, as I too was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer and underwent surgery. As with Stiller I had had no discernible symptoms, but a high level PSA test indicated Prostate Cancer, went forward with a biopsy which confirmed I had aggressive cancer (same as Stiller, though for me during surgery it was discovered the cancer had spread from the prostate, though not metastasised, so requires ongoing treatment). I did consider not undergoing surgery, but Urologist informed me other patients had declined surgery and within a few years deeply regretted the decision; not a pleasant way to die.
 

[bannork]

Yes I wish I bad gone for  PSA test when I was in my mid 50s and started experiencing a weak stream or even a double stream when pointing percy at the porcelain. Only when urinating became difficult did I go to the doc and find out I had a PSA of 60,, jt sbouldn't be above 4, removal of the prostate comes with downers, impitence and incontinence but life can carry on, you feel okay, but after 7 weeks of radiation I'm not so sure due to a urethra thats 'often sore and makes it painful to walk at times..Antibiotics don't seem to have cured it and I'm wondering if putting a clamp on percy for the hour before and during radiatiion every day has damaged the urethra. ( got to bave a full bladder during radiation). 

To sum up men, go for a psa test  in your 50s, it only costs 500 baht.

 

 

 

 

 

[impulse]

Another point of view:

 

http://www.livescience.com/56371-ben-stiller-prostate-cancer-psa.html

[mcfish]

Yes I wish I bad gone for  PSA test when I was in my mid 50s and started experiencing a weak stream or even a double stream when pointing percy at the porcelain. Only when urinating became difficult did I go to the doc and find out I had a PSA of 60,, jt sbouldn't be above 4, removal of the prostate comes with downers, impitence and incontinence but life can carry on, you feel okay, but after 7 weeks of radiation I'm not so sure due to a urethra thats 'often sore and makes it painful to walk at times..Antibiotics don't seem to have cured it and I'm wondering if putting a clamp on percy for the hour before and during radiatiion every day has damaged the urethra. ( got to bave a full bladder during radiation). 
To sum up men, go for a psa test  in your 50s, it only costs 500 baht.
 
 
 
 
 

Thanks for your honest post it's appropriated. I didn't even know there was such a simple test and have made a note for my next medical

Sent from my SC-01D using Tapatalk

[thaibeachlovers]

2 hours ago, bannork said:

Yes I wish I bad gone for  PSA test when I was in my mid 50s and started experiencing a weak stream or even a double stream when pointing percy at the porcelain. Only when urinating became difficult did I go to the doc and find out I had a PSA of 60,, jt sbouldn't be above 4, removal of the prostate comes with downers, impitence and incontinence but life can carry on, you feel okay, but after 7 weeks of radiation I'm not so sure due to a urethra thats 'often sore and makes it painful to walk at times..Antibiotics don't seem to have cured it and I'm wondering if putting a clamp on percy for the hour before and during radiatiion every day has damaged the urethra. ( got to bave a full bladder during radiation). 

To sum up men, go for a psa test  in your 50s, it only costs 500 baht.

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you had a biopsy before surgery to confirm you had cancer. Many men had unnecessary surgery when just using the PSA test.

Post Surgical radiation treatment comes with risks all of it's own.

I don't understand why you are having antibiotics if it is caused by radiation. Did you have a positive test for infection? I can't see why clamping would damage the urethra. IMO more likely to be radiation burn, but I hope you discussed it with the doctor.

[thaibeachlovers]

Prostate surgery is a life changing experience, and does not always work out well. I have a friend that had surgery, but because of the negative effects on his life wishes he'd only had laser treatment to open up the urethra and taken his chances with the cancer.

Sometimes living just isn't enough if it's plagued by incontinence, impotence and other major defects.

Anyway, there is heaps on the internet about it.

[simple1]

32 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Prostate surgery is a life changing experience, and does not always work out well. I have a friend that had surgery, but because of the negative effects on his life wishes he'd only had laser treatment to open up the urethra and taken his chances with the cancer.

Sometimes living just isn't enough if it's plagued by incontinence, impotence and other major defects.

Anyway, there is heaps on the internet about it.

 

At the end of the day it's a judgement call. Here in Oz you're provided with a book that goes into considerable detail on the stats for end of life whether you have surgery or radiation treatment based upon the Gleason Test results. In some cases scans do not pick up cancer has spread from the prostate (as in my case). The bottom line out of all the cancers, prostate cancer in some countries is the major cause of death for male cancer patients. As per usual never rely on info from the Web, speak with a few specialists once the severity of the cancer has been assessed prior to choosing  treatment.

[SOTIRIOS]

...duhh....

 

...and the 'industry'......and the 'treatment'....for ruining it.....

[JetsetBkk]

7 hours ago, mcfish said:

9 hours ago, bannork said:

Yes I wish I bad gone for  PSA test when I was in my mid 50s and started experiencing a weak stream or even a double stream when pointing percy at the porcelain. Only when urinating became difficult did I go to the doc and find out I had a PSA of 60,, jt sbouldn't be above 4, removal of the prostate comes with downers, impitence and incontinence but life can carry on, you feel okay, but after 7 weeks of radiation I'm not so sure due to a urethra thats 'often sore and makes it painful to walk at times..Antibiotics don't seem to have cured it and I'm wondering if putting a clamp on percy for the hour before and during radiatiion every day has damaged the urethra. ( got to bave a full bladder during radiation). 
To sum up men, go for a psa test  in your 50s, it only costs 500 baht.
 
 
 
 
 

Thanks for your honest post it's appropriated. I didn't even know there was such a simple test and have made a note for my next medical

 

+1   I'll be going soon.

[bumpkin]

The PSA test is only the beginning of the investigation.    Any Medic worth the name will follow this with Biopsys,  UltraSound scans,  MRI scans and PET scans and several frank consultations.    Although one hears of a few "headline" cases  where surgery is rushed into,  that is not the normal process.    Prostate tumors present in different forms,  and it takes skilled interpretation of all the results before treatment can be contemplated. 

 

P.S.  had  a robotic prostatectomy 2 weeks ago for a large but contained tumor.   Early days,  but recovering well and feeling good.

[starky]

10 hours ago, impulse said:

Another point of view:

 

http://www.livescience.com/56371-ben-stiller-prostate-cancer-psa.html

That's pretty much exactly my understanding of this. Being from a family with no history of prostate cancer I am happy to take my chances. 

[JHolmesJr]

I hope my strategy of not eating red meat….and other meats just once a week….has the desired effect of keeping this foul affliction at bay.

 

My life would have no meaning without a prostate

[mcfish]

I hope my strategy of not eating red meat….and other meats just once a week….has the desired effect of keeping this foul affliction at bay.
 
My life would have no meaning without a prostate

That's going to expose you to the nasty world of carbs and diabetes. Same same but different

Sent from my SC-01D using Tapatalk

[bannork]

21 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I hope you had a biopsy before surgery to confirm you had cancer. Many men had unnecessary surgery when just using the PSA test.

Post Surgical radiation treatment comes with risks all of it's own.

I don't understand why you are having antibiotics if it is caused by radiation. Did you have a positive test for infection? I can't see why clamping would damage the urethra. IMO more likely to be radiation burn, but I hope you discussed it with the doctor.

Naturally I had a biopsy and then an MRI- that's amazing in the detail it can reveal. Regarding doc thinking I had an infection, halfway through my radiation I started to pee blood which then congealed and hence I couldn't urinate  The cause - a too full and hence extended bladder during radiation, not a pleasant experience in itself.. A catheter couldn't clear it , had to have an' irrigation' through the urethra.The relief was probably the most intense of my life. The doc thought an infection may have come from that but I think your comments about radiation burn may be more accurate. Hopefully it will abate over the next few weeks.

Anyway I was going to say for those who wonder about the benefits of psa readings , the MRI test, expensive though it is, approx 19,000 baht in Rama hospital, really does lay out in extraordinary detail what is going on inside you.

[bumpkin]

An important point to remember about Prostate issues is that they take many and varied forms.   

My advice (for what it's worth) for when you have been diagnosed with some issues,  is to tell as few people as possible.

The guy in the bar,  the person in the office or factory, the neighbour,  will all have different stories to tell you, totally influenced by the one (maybe 2 cases) they know of, however remotely. 

Their vague recollections are unlikely to be highly relevant to your case.    

They are in no position to help you.  Scare stories abound !  

This is a matter solely between you and the Medic.

Find a medic you can trust and put your faith in that person.  They will have more experience and access to relevant data,  far greater than all your other contacts put together.

 

Edited October 6, 2016 by bumpkin