Prostate Screening

Study: Prostate screenings don't reduce cancer deaths CNN — A decade-long study following more than 75,000 men found that prostate cancer screenings led to more diagnoses but did not reduce the number of deaths from the illness. The National Cancer Institute's findings, which are published online in the New England Journal of Medicine, challenge the popular idea that routine screenings reduce cancer-caused deaths. click to read complete article

Studies fail to settle prostate testing debate The Boston Globe — 2nd articleRegular screening for prostate cancer may prevent the deaths of a small number of men but exposes many more to potentially needless treatments accompanied by serious complications, according to two landmark studies that fail to settle a long-running debate about the value of screening. The reports, published online yesterday by The New England Journal of Medicine, are the first to explore whether the widely used prostate-specific antigen test, known as the PSA, actually leads to a reduction in deaths from prostate cancer, the second-leading cause of cancer mortality among men. click to read complete article

Screening all older men for prostate cancer 'could reduce deaths by a fifth' Daily Mail — All older men could be tested for prostate cancer after a major international study found death rates can be cut by up to 20 per cent by routine screening. Health ministers have ordered a review which could pave the way for widespread testing. Prostate cancer affects around 35,000 men in the UK each year and claims 10,000 lives. click to read complete article