Active surveillance, deferred treatment, and outcomes among a Swedish patient cohort

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Sitemaster

Based on an average (median) follow-up of 6.0 years from diagnosis, nearly half of all men diagnosed in the Göteborg (Swedish) cohort of the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSCP) and managed with active surveillance have have been successfully managed without further intervention to date. … Only 9 percent of the patients actually showed clear signs of disease progression during the follow-up period. … READ MORE …

Filed under: Diagnosis, Living with Prostate Cancer, Management, Risk, Treatment | Tagged: , , , | 2 Comments »

In Denmark … PSA-based testing for risk shows no significant impact on prostate cancer mortality (yet)

Posted on August 26, 2012 by Sitemaster

The question whether widespread use of the PSA test to test for risk of prostate cancer has a significant impact on prostate cancer-specific mortality continues to be highly controversial and to engender strong emotions among many medical professionals, patients, and prostate cancer advocates. … READ MORE …

Filed under: Diagnosis, Living with Prostate Cancer, Risk | Tagged: , , , , , , | 28 Comments »

Quality of life data from the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC)

Posted on August 16, 2012 by Sitemaster

Many prostate cancer patients and advocates may be less than enthused by data published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine, and based on 11-year follow-up of patients in the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC). … READ MORE …

Filed under: Diagnosis, Management, Risk, Treatment | Tagged: , , , | 9 Comments »

Patient tools to assist decision-making about PSA tests for risk of prostate cancer

Posted on August 1, 2012 by Sitemaster

As previously discussed on this blog, on July 16 the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) issued a provisional clinical opinion or PCO on the merits of screening for prostate cancer (see prior commentary on this PCO). … READ MORE …

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Albertsen on the problems of screening and active surveillance

Posted on July 31, 2012 by Sitemaster

A paper just published in European Urology addresses pathologic outcomes among men initially managed with active surveillance and subsequently treated by deferred radical prostatectomy (RP). The paper stimulated an important set of editorial comments by Albertsen, which we strongly recommend to readers (along with the response from the authors of the original paper). … READ MORE …

Filed under: Diagnosis, Living with Prostate Cancer, Management, Risk, Treatment | Tagged: , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

The AUA’s “toolkit” on the role of PSA in testing for prostate cancer

Posted on June 13, 2012 by Sitemaster

Some regular readers may want to be keeping an eye on what the American Urological Association (AUA) is providing to its members in response to the recent, final U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendation related to the widespread use of PSA testing of healthy men as a method to “screen” for risk of prostate cancer. … READ MORE …

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James Eastham on PSA testing and prostate cancer risk

Posted on June 8, 2012 by Sitemaster

Dr. James Eastham is a highly respected and specialized prostate cancer surgeon who works at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. In an interview just published on the OncologySTAT web site, he talks about his views on the appropriate application of the PSA test today in assessment of risk for prostate cancer and management of low-risk disease. … READ MORE …

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How one good story may trump a plethora of good data

Posted on May 25, 2012 by Sitemaster

Some readers may be interested in reviewing an article that appears in Time magazine this week entitled “Why people stick with cancer screening, even when it causes harm.” The article reviews how our experiences and perceptions may color the way we make our individual decisions about things like screening for breast and prostate cancers.

Filed under: Diagnosis, Risk | Tagged: , , , | 7 Comments »

At least one intelligent response to the USPSTF recommendation

Posted on May 23, 2012 by Sitemaster

Dan Zenka, a prostate cancer patient and a Senior VP with the Prostate Cancer Foundation, appears to have published one of the more intelligent responses to the USPSTF recommendation on PSA screening since Monday’s announcement. Have a look at his blog post. … READ MORE …

Filed under: Diagnosis, Living with Prostate Cancer, Management, Risk | Tagged: , , , , | 9 Comments »

USPSTF makes unsophisticated “final” decision about role of PSA testing

Posted on May 21, 2012 by Sitemaster

According to an article in  today’s Annals of Internal Medicine, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force or USPSTF has confirmed its prior draft recommendation against all “routine” use of PSA testing for risk of prostate cancer, stating that ”This recommendation applies to men in the general U.S. population, regardless of age.” … READ MORE …

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PSA testing of the right individuals (not mass screening) should be the goal

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Sitemaster

A new article by Roobol, Bagma, and Loeb in the most recent issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal argues that the use of PSA testing for risk of prostate cancer should primarily be focused on relatively younger men and that it should be avoided in older men with relatively poor health and low life expectancy. Dr. Roobol was one of the key researchers in the European Randomized Screening Study for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC). … READ MORE …

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The PSA screening dichotomy continues to make news

Posted on April 25, 2012 by Sitemaster

A research letter just published in the Journal of the American Medical Association this week confirms what most physicians and prostate cancer advocates were already well aware of … that the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendation from 2008 — that men of 75 years and older should not generally be given annual PSA tests to screen for prostate cancer — was pretty much ignored by all concerned. … READ MORE …

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Updated data from ERSPC trial still show no impact on all-cause mortality

Posted on March 15, 2012 by Sitemaster

A new article in the New England Journal of Medicine this week has updated the prostate cancer-specific and all-cause (overall) mortality data from the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC). … READ MORE …

Filed under: Diagnosis, Living with Prostate Cancer, Risk | Tagged: , , , | 77 Comments »

Prostate cancer screening and mortality of prostate cancer patients from other causes

Posted on March 14, 2012 by Sitemaster

A newly published, retrospective analysis of mortality data from participants in the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC) trial suggests the possibility that men diagnosed with clinical symptoms of prostate cancer are at higher risk for non-prostate cancer-related mortality than men diagnosed through a screening protocol. … READ MORE …

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No survival benefit to screening in Spanish arm of ERSPC trial

Posted on March 6, 2012 by Sitemaster

A newly published article has concluded that, among the 4,000+ men enrolled in the Spanish cohort of the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC), there were no differences in overall or prostate cancer-specific mortality at 15 years of follow-up. … READ MORE …

Filed under: Diagnosis, Management, Risk | Tagged: , , , | 6 Comments »

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