Mar 19 2009
Prostate Cancer Screening and PSA levels: Update from the New England Journal of Medicine
Prostate cancer screening has been a controversial topic for some time. The controversy stems from the fact that many individuals who are diagnosed with prostate cancer can live very long with the disease. Many autopsies done on men (who died from other causes) demonstrated findings of prostate cancer, without any signs of the disease outside of the autopsy findings. However, in some individauls, prostate cancer can be a detrimental illness. Prostate cancer can decrease their quality of life (such as urethral obstruction) even metastasize (usually to the bones which causes terrible pain).
Prostate specific antigen, or PSA, is a blood test that is used to screen for prostate cancer. A PSA over 4.0 usually means the existence of a prostatic cancer. Most individuals who are found to have localized prostate cancer are cured. But the question remains: do these individuals with localized prostate cancer need to be treated at all?
Two new studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine (read the studies HERE and HERE) showed that PSA screening should still remain an option, but not the end all, be all. They demonstrated patients should be educated about the benefits of screening and what the implications of a high PSA value mean.
Treatment for localized prostate cancer can have life-changing implications. Therefore, any man who is diagnosed with prostate cancer should consult multiple specialists who deal with the disease to come up with a viable solution - an individualized plan of attack.
