Prostate cancer screening does not reduce mortality

More intensive screening and treatment for prostate cancer is not associated with lower prostate cancer specific mortality. Lu-Yao and colleagues (p 740) compared the Seattle-Puget Sound area in the United States, where screening and aggressive treatment were adopted early, with Connecticut, where adoption was slower. In 1987-90 men aged 65-79 in Seattle were five times as likely to undergo prostate specific antigen testing and twice as likely to undergo biopsy, and rates of radical prostatectomy and radiotherapy were also substantially higher. Nevertheless, through 11 years of follow up, prostate cancer mortality was similar in the two areas.

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Natural experiment examining impact of aggressive screening and treatment on prostate cancer mortality in two fixed cohorts from Seattle area and Connecticut

Grace Lu-Yao, Peter C Albertsen, Janet L Stanford, Therese A Stukel, Elizabeth S Walker-Corkery, and Michael J Barry
BMJ 2002 325: 740. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]