Customized Briefing for Ahmed Moeen August 7, 2014 Research PSA Screening May Save Lives, But Questions Remain About Whether Benefits Outweigh Harms. The New York Times (8/7, Bradford) “Well” blog reports that research published in The Lancet suggests that “blood test screening for prostate cancer saves lives, but doubts remain about whether the benefit is large enough to offset the harms caused by unnecessary biopsies and treatments.” HealthDay (8/7, Preidt) reports, “The new study included more than 162,000 men ages 50 to 74 in eight European countries.” Participants “were randomly selected to have PSA screening every two or four years, or no PSA screening.” The researchers found that “compared to men who weren’t screened, death rates among men in the screening group were 15 percent lower after nine years, 22 percent lower after 11 years, and 21 percent lower after 13 years.” Medscape (8/7, Nelson) reports, “However, despite these findings, the authors remain cautious about population-based screening programs, because the high rate of screening-related overdiagnosis and overtreatment still needs to be addressed.” Researchers Report Promising Results For Novel Prostate Cancer Test. Renal and Urology News (8/7, Charnow) reports, “Researchers have reported promising results using fluorescence microscopy and a photodynamic agent to detect shed prostate cancer (PCa) cells in voided urine.” The findings “show that the technique—which involves treating voided urine specimens with the photodynamic agent 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) following by imaging with fluorescence microscopy (PPIX)—has a greater sensitivity for detecting PCa than digital rectal examination (DRE) and transrectal ultrasound and a greater specificity than PSA and PSA density, the investigators noted.” The research was published in BMC Urology.
Posted on: Thu, 07 Aug 2014 18:09:09 +0000
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