“Prostate Cancer, PSA Testing and Deaths”
Here is the study I have been waiting for. A 2011 Swedish study basically said the PSA test was “worthless.” However, I disagreed and reserved an opinion on that issue until further data was forthcoming, because I believe that the PSA allows for earlier diagnosis and consequently, earlier treatment. A new study from the United Kingdom shows that prostate cancer kills half of the men diagnosed with the disease, which challenges the notion that prostate cancer patients “are more likely to die with the disease than from their disease.” Investigators analyzed data on over 50,000 men diagnosed with prostate cancer and found that “prostate cancer was the cause of death in 49.7% of the men who had been diagnosed with the disease. Whereas, the Cancer Journal for Clinicians reported that there were 217,000 new cases of prostate cancer diagnosed in the United States in 2010 and 32,500 cancer deaths, which gives a mortality rate from the disease of 15%.” That is a far cry from the 50% death rate in the UK.
