Just wrong to cut back on prostate cancer screening

Physicians and patients who are concerned about preventing prostate cancer deaths choose to screen with prostate-specific antigen (PSA) tests because an inconclusive but increasingly compelling body of evidence shows that the screening reduces suffering and death from prostate cancer — the second-leading cause of cancer death among men in the United States.

Numerous studies have shown that PSA-based tests, such as those that detect increases in PSA over time and the percentage of PSA floating free in the blood, help to decrease unnecessary biopsies and also identify men with the most aggressive tumors so that they can receive timely treatment.

Numerous media reports followed a federal task force’s announcement this month that there is insufficient medical evidence to assess the risks and benefits of prostate cancer screening in men younger than 75 and that doctors should stop testing men over age 75.

Men should follow the recommendations of the American Urological Association, the American Cancer Society and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, all of which recommend screening for early detection and treatment of prostate cancer. Eliminating screening also eliminates the possibility for early diagnosis and curative treatment in healthy men.