No benefit from routine prostate cancer screening



Home Page
The latest articles, features and news.



Read About...

Adolescence
AIDS/HIV Treatments
Andropause
Assisted Reproduction
Circumcision
Dating
Dicks & History
Enlargement
Fertility
Firefly Talks Dicks
Gay and Bi
Gender
Getting It Up
Male Peculiarities
Paternity
Pecker Problems
Penis Size
Prostate Cancer
Relationships
STDs


Search Articles




Discussion Forums







9 January 2024
No benefit from routine prostate cancer screening
by George Atkinson

A long running trial into the effectiveness of mass prostate cancer screening finds that screening does not reduce deaths from the disease. Writing in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, the researchers noted that six years of aggressive, annual screening for prostate cancer led to more diagnoses of tumors but not to fewer deaths from the disease.

"The data confirm that for most men, it is not necessary to be screened annually for prostate cancer," says the study's lead author Gerald Andriole, chief urologic surgeon at the Siteman Cancer Center. "A large majority of the cancers we found are slow-growing tumors that are unlikely to be deadly."

The study involved men aged between 55 and 74, who received either annual PSA tests and digital rectal exams or "routine care," meaning they had the screening tests only if their physicians recommended them.

"We are learning that only the youngest men - those with the longest life expectancy - are apt to benefit from screening. We need to modify our current practices and stop screening elderly men and those with a limited life expectancy," says Andriole. "Instead, we need to take a more targeted approach and selectively screen men who are young and healthy and particularly those at high risk for prostate cancer."

The researchers recommend that men get a baseline PSA test in their early 40s as elevated levels at that age can predict the risk of prostate cancer in later years. Men in their 40s with low PSA levels are very unlikely to develop lethal prostate cancer and could potentially avoid additional testing.

Andriole says that widespread testing has lead many men with slow-growing tumors to be over-diagnosed and over-treated with surgery or radiation therapy, the possible side effects of which include incontinence and impotence. "We have to take a more nuanced approach to determine which men should be screened with PSA in the first place, how frequently they should be tested, the PSA level at which they should be biopsied and whether their cancer warrants aggressive therapy," he concluded.

Related:
Discuss this article in our forum
Prostate screening guidelines in need of revamp
PSA Test Of Dubious Benefit For Elderly
Experts Express Doubts Over Effectiveness Of PSA Tests

Source: Washington University School of Medicine




Home Page    Contact Us    Privacy


Your use of this website indicates your agreement to our terms and conditions of use.
Copyright 2025 altPenis.com and its licensors. All rights reserved.