Early Prostate Cancer Cases Drop as PSA Screening Declines
According to recent research, the recommendation from the United States Preventive Services Task Force for men not to get routine prostate-specific antigen (PSA) based prostate cancer screening, regardless of age, appears to have led to a sizable drop in screening with the PSA blood test, and in diagnosis of early-stage prostate cancer.
The study, published online in JAMA Oncology, a journal committed to publishing influential original research, opinions, and reviews that advance the science of oncology and improve the clinical care of patients with cancer, reported that researchers used federal cancer surveillance data to track prostate cancer incidence rates and found that early-stage cases dropped 6 percent from 2012 to 2013. Previously, the research team reported that between 2011 and 2012, early-stage diagnoses fell even more sharply, down 19 percent. In 2011, the USPSTF issued its recommendation against PSA screening.
To see whether screening with the PSA test also declined, the team used national health survey data. Indeed, the percentage of men aged 50 to 74 who underwent PSA testing fell from about 37 percent in 2010 to 30 percent in 2013. Among men over 74, the percentage screened fell from 43 to 36 during that period.
SSM Health Cancer Care knows that early detection is one of the most important factors to surviving cancer. Whether you have a family medical history, lifestyle, and other factors that indicate that you are at greater risk for cancer, or if you are in a low-risk group with no symptoms of the disease, regular screenings are critical to successfully diagnosing and treating cancer.
If you, or a loved one, needs to be screened for prostate cancer, SSM Health is here to help. SSM Health is sponsoring a free community prostate cancer screening on Wednesday, September 28, at Dave Sinclair Chrysler Dodge Jeep RAM on 2326 W. Osage St., in Pacific, MO. For more information about the event, or to register for a screening, please click here.