|
medpundit |
||
 |
 |
|
Wednesday, December 04, 2002The USPSTF found good evidence that PSA screening can detect early-stage prostate cancer but mixed and inconclusive evidence that early detection improves health outcomes. Screening isassociated with important harms, including frequent false-positive results and unnecessary anxiety, biopsies, and potential complications of treatment of some cancers that may never have affected a patient?s health. The USPSTF concludes that evidence is insufficient to determine whether the benefits outweigh the harms for a screened population. A summary of the research on which the recommendation is based can be found here. All in all, it’s a sensible recommendation. Prostate cancer is, in most cases, a very slow growing cancer. So slow, that the majority of people who have it die of something else. The screening tests we have are imperfect. Digital rectal exam can miss a cancer, and the prostate specific antigen, or PSA, can’t distinguish aggressive cancer from the slow-growing version. For some men, fear of cancer is enough to justify the risks of this imperfect screen, for others it isn’t. It only makes sense to leave the decision up to them after weighing the pros and cons. Now, why can’t the USPSTF take the same approach to mammography and breast cancer? Oh, that’s right, men’s health hasn’t been politicized to the degree that women’s health has. posted by Sydney on 12/04/2002 07:06:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
|
