Unacceptable in the under 50s

doi:10.1136/bmj.39422.598125.3A

BMJ 2007;335:1225 (15 December), doi:10.1136/bmj.39422.598125.3A

Letters

Prostate cancerscreening

Unacceptable in the under 50s

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Lane et al report the feasibility of testing for prostate cancerin men aged 45-49.¹ Screening for prostate cancer in men olderthan 50 is hardly acceptable because overdiagnosis is obviousand the impact on mortality remains unproved despite the findingsof numerous trials in the past 15 years.

Of 19 major medical organisations worldwide, only the AmericanCancer Society and the French and American urological associationsrecommend screening men for prostate cancer with annual measurementof prostate specific antigen (PSA).² Therefore, in additionto wasting resources, the paper by Lane et al will be used topromote screening.¹ In France 36% of men underwent prostatecancer screening (unproved and not organised), whereas only25% underwent colorectal cancer screening (proved benefit onmortality and organised).³ The only demonstrated effect of prostatecancer screening is a 5-10% biopsy rate in the screened population,with a risk of septicaemia and haemorrhage. Plus, . . . [Full text of this article]

Alain Braillon, doctor¹, Gérard Dubois, doctor¹

¹ Public Health, University Hospital, Amiens 80000, France

braillon.alain@chu-amiens.fr

CiteULike

Complore

Connotea

Del.icio.us Add to Digg

Digg

StumbleUpon Add to Technorati

Technorati What's this?

Relevant Article

Detection of prostate cancer in unselected young men: prospective cohort nested within a randomised controlled trial: J Athene Lane, Joanne Howson, Jenny L Donovan, John R Goepel, Daniel J Dedman, Liz Down, Emma L Turner, David E Neal, and Freddie C Hamdy
BMJ 2007 335: 1139. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]