Prostate Screening Under Fire

(Ivanhoe Newswire) – Finding cancers early is a good thing, right? Usually, yes. But when it comes to prostate cancer, researchers are now suggesting some cancers might be better left unknown.

In a review of two large studies on prostate cancer screening with the PSA blood test, investigators from the American Cancer Society and University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio note while screening is picking up more cancers, many of those cancers are “clinically insignificant.”

Specifically, they note computer modeling shows 29 percent of prostate cancers diagnosed in whites and 44 percent diagnosed in blacks fall into the “over diagnosis” category, meaning these men would probably never suffer any ill effects from the cancers.

Writing in an accompanying editorial, fellow investigators agree, citing statistics showing the average American man had an 8.7 percent lifetime risk of being diagnosed with prostate cancer before the PSA test was introduced in the mid-‘80s. By 2005, that risk doubled to 17 percent. But the risk of death from prostate cancer remained relatively stable – the average man had a 2.5 percent lifetime risk of dying from the disease prior to widespread use of the PSA test versus a 3 percent risk in 2005.

Because many prostate cancers will never progress to the deadly stage, and treatment for prostate cancer can have significant adverse effects on men, including incontinence and sexual dysfunction, they suggest men should carefully weigh the value of PSA testing with their doctors.

“The real impact and tragedy of prostate cancer screening is the doubling of the lifetime risk of a diagnosis of prostate cancer with little if any decrease in the risk of dying from this disease,” they conclude.

SOURCE: CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, published online June 29, 2009

If this story or any other Ivanhoe story has impacted your life or prompted you or someone you know to seek or change treatments, please let us know by contacting Melissa Medalie at mmedalie@ivanhoe.com