Author Interviews, Biomarkers, Prostate Cancer / 07.03.2018
Low-Intensity PSA-Based Screening Does Not Reduce Prostate Cancer Deaths
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Richard Martin
Professor of Clinical Epidemiology
Head of Section, Clinical Epidemiology & Public Health
Population Health Sciences
Bristol Medical School
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Screening for prostate cancer using the PSA test aims to detect prostate cancer at an early stage, before symptoms develop, when treatment can be offered that may avoid the risks of advanced cancer or may extend life.
Evidence from a large European trial suggests that PSA screening at 2 to 4 yearly intervals could reduce prostate-cancer deaths by 20%. after 13 years of follow-up. However, there are problems with the accuracy of the PSA test and potential harmful consequences. In particular, using the PSA test to screen for prostate cancer results in some tested men being diagnosed with low-risk, harmless cancers that are unlikely to progress or require treatment. This problem may be particularly exacerbated when using repeated PSA testing as a screening strategy.
The CAP trial offered a one-off PSA test to men aged 50-69 years in the UK. The goal of this low-intensity, one-off PSA testing was to avoid unnecessary screening while still identifying men with high risk, aggressive cancers for whom screening and early detection can reduce morbidity and mortality. However, we found that after an average 10-years of follow-up, the PSA test still detected too many low-risk prostate cancers, while also missing cancers that did need treatment. After an average 10-years of follow-up, the group who had been screened had the same percentage of men dying from prostate cancer as those who had not been screened (0.29%). (more…)