Civilized General Discussion Board: I just proposed a possibility of why it may not have been detected.

And it is possible, and it may come to light, that Biden did not find out about his prostate cancer due to the fact that some people wanted to keep his exposure at a minimum to those outside the trusted circle. I'm not saying those people were necessarily trying to keep him from receiving adequate care, either. They just never considered something such as prostate cancer to be much of a possibility. At least I would be initially inclined to believe that.

Other than skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the United States. A PSA test only requires drawing blood. They draw blood routinely for to check all sorts of things. You'd of thought they would have routinely ran a PSA as a normal part of a physical for the POTUS. They were already drawing blood for a physical. At least, you'd sure hope they were. That's a very basic part of a physical exam to check on someone's health.

A higher PSA doesn't always mean you have cancer and a lower one doesn't necessarily mean you're clear either. If Biden didn't want to suffer the indignities of a digital rectal exam, a DRO to those of us "in the know", I'd imagine they would have been willing to run the prostate MRI on him, which would have been highly accurate. That said, even the fickle finger of fate doesn't necessarily reveal a problem.

My urologist still believes them to be an important part of detecting potential cancer. Since the basic PSA test isn't even close to being moderately accurate. It's just another useful tool. In fact, many men have suffered unnecessary treatments because of high PSAs. Such as unnecessary testing and biopsies due to the false-positives. All cost plenty of time and money, and the biopsy has some serious associated risks due to what that type of procedure entails.

Besides that, Biden's mental decline is a well-known fact. It's now understood even by those that refused to see what was obvious to most of us. Those that lied about it, can no longer lie about it. The fact that I mentioned it was not therefore significant. It was only significant from the standpoint that it provided a weak opening for people to hammer me. There have been numerous revelations and now books discussing what lengths people went to in order to hide his mental declination. The fact that I wondered if that had something to do with the seemingly late cancer diagnosis is no big deal.

You know, I used to get hammered for speaking of Biden's (to me and many others) obvious mental as well as physical decline. Many on the left refused to see it and bought into or at least fervently supported the "deep fakes" narrative. Of course, when your information and news sources are all in the tank for Biden, you wouldn't see near as much of Biden making public screwups. Still...I was hammered for, IMHO, stating the obvious. Now, I don't expect to receive apologies for those hammerings. But I'd like to think some people became a bit embarrassed for condemning my accurate observations. That they apparently missed!

As an AI public service anouncement, I submit the following as I experienced some of what is stated below. I did not receive unnecessary treatments, but there was a lot of stress and anxiety for both me and my family. The specific type of prostate effective MRI was new and not available when I had a high PSA, and that subjected me to the biopsy. Which ultimately resulted in no cancer being detected. Which still didn't mean I was 100% clear either. After them using my prostate as a biopsy pin cushion. I do think this information might be of value to someone here on the board. If not now, maybe in the future.

From a Google search:

A high PSA (Prostate-Specific Antigen) level can sometimes lead to unnecessary testing and procedures, such as biopsies, due to the false-positive results it can yield. While PSA is a valuable tool for assessing prostate cancer risk, its sensitivity and specificity are not perfect.
Here's a more detailed explanation:

• PSA is not definitive: PSA levels can be elevated for reasons other than cancer, including prostate enlargement, inflammation, or infection.

• False-positive results: PSA testing can produce false-positive results, meaning a high PSA level is detected even when cancer is not present.

• False-negative results: Conversely, PSA testing can also produce false-negative results, meaning a normal PSA level is detected despite the presence of cancer.

• Unnecessary biopsies: False-positive results can lead to unnecessary biopsies, which can be uncomfortable, painful, and carry the risk of infection or bleeding.

• Anxiety and stress: False-positive results can cause unnecessary anxiety and distress for the patient and their family.

• Overtreatment: Diagnosing prostate cancer based solely on a high PSA level can lead to overtreatment, where patients receive treatments (surgery or radiation) that may not be necessary.

• Side effects of treatment: Overtreatment can expose individuals to potential side effects like erectile dysfunction, incontinence, or bowel problems.

AI responses may include mistakes.

[1] https://www.brownhealth.org/be-well/men-and-psa-test-or-not-test[2] https://cancer.ca/en/treatments/tests-and-procedures/prostate-specific-antigen-psa-test[3] https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/symptoms/15282-elevated-psa-prostate-specific-antigen-level[4] https://www.cancer.gov/types/prostate/psa-fact-sheet