Study: Annual Prostate Test Doesn't Save Lives

[CMF Newsman]

Researchers have found more evidence that annual prostate cancer screening, called PSA test, in men doesn't save lives. Scientists followed 76,000 men for 10 to 13 years and found annual screening for prostate cancer led to more diagnoses but didn't result in less deaths from the disease, according to a new study from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Last October, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommended against routine PSA screenings for most men because of similar concerns about the accuracy of screening using a blood test that measures a protein called prostate-specific antigen or PSA.

Dr. Otis Brawley, the chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society said the harms of screening are better proved than the benefits, which is why he supports the USPSTF recommendations. A substantial number of men receive unnecessary treatment because of the annual tests,which can lead to harms such as impotence and incontinence and can even lead to premature death, he wrote.

Read more: www.thebostonchannel.com/health/30154488/detail.html

[Gary]

Good. I can now tell the doctor what to do with his damn glove the next time I go for a checkup.

[Justin Thyme]

My urologist told me the finger can't tell you anything. I told him I wished I had known that fifteen years ago.

[Deleted]

It can tell you your wallet just got thinner.

[TNBear]

PSA testing (which does not involve a finger) saved my life. My doctor noticed a significant increase in my PSA level, and although it was not yet at what was considered a suspicious level he sent me to a urologist and sure enough-prostate cancer.