Ten members of the Prostate Cancer Roundtable have today submitted a joint letter to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force commenting on the recent draft recommendation of a “D” grade for use of the PSA test in screening for prostate cancer among men who do not have symptoms that are highly suspicious for prostate cancer, regardless of age, race, or family history.
The full text of the letter is available on the Roundtable’s web site.
Most of the members of the Roundtable have also submitted individual sets of comments in response to the task force’s draft recommendation.
Filed under: Diagnosis, Risk | Tagged: PSA testing, risk, screening, USPSTF |
THE "NEW" PROSTATE CANCER INFOLINK 
This letter is an appropriate response. In my case, prostate cancer runs in the family. With high PSA values I endured four biopsies before the cancer was found, and it was an aggressive variety. Despite the high PSA, I was well aware of the test’s limitations and the not-so-great odds of a biopsy finding the cancer. I understand the probability of tests providing false reports and the statistical odds of biopsies missing cancers. I can’t understand the logic of doing nothing because the tests are not perfect. Medicine is not an exact science.