Dutch urologists say prostate cancer screening “cannot be justified”

A new review by specialists from Erasmus University Medical Center, just published in Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases, states categorically that mass, population-based screening  for prostate cancer cannot be justified yet in the context of a public health policy.

Researchers are careful to note in their review that widespread prostate cancer screening - when carried out using PSA tests and digital rectal examinations - does most certainly lead to a beneficial shift in the clinical stage at which patients are initially diagnosed and (based on the ERSPC data) does lead to a reduction in prostate cancer-specific mortality.