Doctors may recommend observation alone, particularly for older men whose tumors are small and less aggressive, as determined by biopsy results. If surgery is deferred, the physician can periodically monitor levels of PSA, prostate-specific antigen, which indicates changes in the tumor. PSA levels vary greatly from one person to the next. For cancer patients, doctors are less interested in the exact PSA level than in changes over time. If the prostate is surgically removed and there has been no spread of the tumor elsewhere in the body, the PSA will become undetectable within three weeks after the operation.
Radiation treatments cause a slower drop.
A PSA increase may be a sign that further treatment is needed. Increased PSA levels do not necessarily mean cancer. They can also be caused by benign prostate enlargement, infection, or surgical manipulation. If your diet is right, you may never know you even have a prostate except when your doctor asks to check it. The very same low-fat, vegetarian diet that is so good for you in many other ways is by far the best diet for preventing prostate problems.