Study highlights insensitivity of PSA screening

doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7508.67-a

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Susan Mayor

London

Many prostate cancers, including high grade tumours, can be missed when the prostate specific antigen (PSA) test is used in screening, even when the concentration of PSA at which further investigations are carried out is set low.

New research shows that there is no specific cut-off concentration for PSA below which the risk of prostate cancer is zero. The large follow-up study has showed a continuum of risk at all concentrations of PSA (JAMA 2005;294: 66-70). It confirmed previous concerns about the value of PSA testing, with no studies showing that it reduced prostate cancer mortality.

The study analysed data from 8575 men in the placebo group of the prostate cancer prevention trial, a study …