In the last 2 years my psa went from a 1.3 to a 4.3 is there reason to be alarmed?

Hi Joseph,

Has your doctor asked you to schedule a prostate biopsy to check for the presence of prostate cancer?  He would be the one who is best able to tell if your PSA result is cause for concern.

There are many factors that play into this decision - not just the PSA number itself, but also how quickly it has changed, how old you are, your family history of prostate cancer, even ethnicity.  All of these can put you at a different risk for developing cancer, and would guide a decision to perform a biopsy or monitor your psa more closely.  You should definitely check out Dr. Motola's article on What is a Normal PSA?

Hope this helps!

Dan