Last month the task force advised against routine prostate-specific antigen (PSA) tests to screen for prostate cancer.
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Well, there is a reference to the pain of the test itself, presumably the PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) test.
In the soy study, researchers from the University of California Davis Cancer Center studied 62 men known to have prostate cancer and elevated PSA levels.
But UC David professor Michael Wilkes investigated and learned that the seminar was primarily a sales pitch about the prostate specific antigen (PSA) test, and that its main message was that men should get tested regularly beginning at age 40.
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That leads to thousands upon thousands of unnecessary biopsies every year. (The test is guilty of false negatives, too: PSA fails to spot cancer 15% of the time.) Moreover, up to 75% of prostate tumors being detected now by PSA are too small to be an immediate threat, asserts Stanford University urologist Thomas Stamey.
Men who get tested for prostate specific antigen, or PSA, have a 13.5% chance of landing in the danger zone.
In the other study, conducted at multiple sites in Europe, researchers found PSA testing lowered prostate cancer-related deaths by 20 percent.
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In May 2012, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommended against routine PSA screening (Prostate-Specific Antigen test to screen Prostate cancer) before being diagnosed as it did not benefit patients.
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Fortunately, earlier diagnosis of prostate cancer, thanks to prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing, may have slowed and even reversed these trends, according to the study, which was published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
And for patients already treated for prostate cancer, an increase in PSA may serve as a "harbinger" for the recurrence of disease.
WSJ: Are PSA Tests a Good Idea for Screening Men for Prostate Cancer?
But for other men, the ability of the PSA test to detect prostate cancer is slightly better than the flip of a coin.
WSJ: Are PSA Tests a Good Idea for Screening Men for Prostate Cancer?
The use of the PSA test to diagnose prostate cancer is controversial because raised levels of the protein do not always indicate the presence of cancer.
After the first month, in fact, the death rate among prostate-cancer patients during the PSA era was lower than it was among cancer-free men, according to the study.
Case in point: A recent study that examined 15 years of PSA screenings found that prostate cancer had been over-diagnosed -- treating men whose tumors were growing too slowly to ever be a threat.
And two out of three men with a raised PSA level do not have prostate cancer.
For decades he avoided the test, known as PSA, that screens for prostate cancer.
And, fewer PSA tests would result in fewer prostate surgeries.
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And, fewer PSA tests are resulting in fewer prostate surgery.
In recommending against PSA tests for early signs of prostate cancer, the United States Preventive Services Task Force has struck another blow for a head-in-the-sand approach to early detection of fatal illnesses.
By combining the Gleason score (determined by a pathologist examining cancer cells under a microscope), the clinical stage (determined by a careful prostate exam and various scans) and the PSA level, we can stratify patients into "low, " "intermediate" and "high" risk categories.
WSJ: Are PSA Tests a Good Idea for Screening Men for Prostate Cancer?
Health.com: Prostate cancer screening -- should you have a PSA test?
Prostate-cancer diagnoses in the so-called PSA era may have been less traumatic, the researchers suggest, because cancers identified by PSA are more likely to be slow-growing or harmless enough that they don't require immediate treatment.
However, the spike in post-diagnosis suicides was observed only in the years before1993, before the widespread use of PSA tests, which are able to detect prostate cancer early.
However, Mr Neate stressed that the study had confirmed that a PSA test could not distinguish between aggressive and slow growing forms of prostate cancer.
Patients diagnosed with prostate cancer who choose "active surveillance" over immediate treatment can follow changes in their PSA over time to help with decision making.
WSJ: Are PSA Tests a Good Idea for Screening Men for Prostate Cancer?
First, PSA levels generally increase with age and can be inflated because of more benign problems in the prostate, leading to false-positive results.
The current test, called PSA, is less than ideal and can cause men undue anxiety by showing up tumours in the prostate gland that might never go on to cause any health problem.
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