prostate-report.org

PSA test could be a high risk for older men

According to U.S. Preventive Services Task Force doctors should stop testing elderly men for prostate cancer because the blood test, known as PSA, that millions of men undergo each year leads to so much unnecessary anxiety, surgery and complications. The federal task force also concluded yesterday that it remains unclear whether the screening is worthwhile for younger men.

In the first update of its recommendations for prostate cancer screening in five years, the panel that sets government policy on preventive medicine said that the benefit of screening at this time is uncertain, and if there is a benefit, it’s likely to be small but the risks are large and dramatic. The risk of being harmed exceeded the potential benefits starting at age 75. Because it is not clear precisely what PSA level signals the presence of cancer, many men experience stressful false alarms that lead to unnecessary surgical biopsies to make a definitive diagnosis, which can be painful and in rare cases can cause serious complications.

The new guidelines are published today in the Annals of Internal Medicine

The recommendations come at a time when doctors are increasingly questioning whether many tests, drugs and procedures are being overused, unnecessarily driving up health-care costs and exposing patients to the risks of unneeded treatment.