Annual prostate screen saves lives

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

According to a new study, men who have an annual test for prostate cancer are three times less likely to die from the disease than those who do not.
The value of prostate cancer screening has long been the subject of debate. Now a study from researchers at the Harvard Radiation Oncology Program reveals that annual screening has a clear benefit.

They looked at a group of 1,492 men treated for prostate cancer whose disease came back. Among the group, 841 men had had annual prostate specific antigen (PSA) tests and 611 were diagnosed by other methods. The analysis of the findings suggested that those who had an annual PSA test had a 3.6 per cent chance of dying, compared with 11.3 per cent among the general population. Meanwhile, there are large trials going on in the US and Europe which will add more to what we know about the value of the PSA test.

Source
American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology meeting 19th October 2005

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