Published 21 October 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b4285
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;339:b4285

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Prostate specific antigen

Prostate screening in France

The first 100% of the full text of this article appears below.

Holmström and colleagues confirm that no single cut-off value for prostate specific antigen concentration attained likelihood ratios formally required for a screening test.¹ However, the number of men who would need to be offered screening to prevent one death from prostate cancer during a 10 year period is not 1068 but 1410.²

Everywhere, practice guidelines are up to date and clearly cite the unproved benefit of screening for prostate specific antigen, as well as the adverse effects (high risk of overdiagnosis and overtreatment).³ Everywhere, that is, but in France. For the fifth consecutive year, French urologists are actively promoting prostate cancer screening,⁴ despite the arguments.⁵

Cite this as: BMJ 2009;339:b4285

¹ Public Health, University Hospitals, 80000 Amiens, France

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Competing interests: None declared.

1. Holmström B, Johansson M, Bergh A, Stenman UH, Hallmans G, Stattin P. Prostate specific antigen for early detection of prostate cancer: longitudinal study. BMJ 2009;339:b3537. (24 September.)[Abstract/Free Full Text]
2. Barry MJ. Screening for prostate cancer—the controversy that refuses to die. N Engl J Med 2009;360:1351-4.[Free Full Text]
3. NHS Cancer Screening Programmes. Prostate cancer risk management. www.cancerscreening.nhs.uk/prostate/index.html
4. Association Française d’Urologie. 5ème Journée de la Prostate. www.urofrance.org/espace-general/actions-information/journee-prostate/journee-prostate-2009.html
5. Braillon A, Dubois G, Zielinski O. Screening for prostate cancer: a public campaign, evidence-based-medicine and conflicting interests. Eur J Public Health 2009;19:222.[Free Full Text]

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Relevant Article

Prostate specific antigen for early detection of prostate cancer: longitudinal study

Benny Holmström, Mattias Johansson, Anders Bergh, Ulf-Håkan Stenman, Göran Hallmans, and Pär Stattin
BMJ 2009 339: b3537. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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