No way to reliably identify low-risk prostate cancer

Conclusion This research has examined different methods that have sometimes been used to identify men with clinically insignificant prostate cancer that would not be expected to affect a man during his lifetime. The researchers explain how there has often been debate around the over-treatment of such slower growing, low grade prostate cancers, and monitoring the man (active surveillance) would often be considered a good treatment option. There have been a number of methods proposed – most of these have been developed in countries where prostate cancer screening is carried out. The researchers found that in their series of 847 men, none of the various methods were accurate at predicting clinically insignificant disease. So they correctly identified around half the men with clinically insignificant disease. Some of the methods with more inclusive criteria for potential disease risk would identify very few men as having clinically insignificant disease and so be eligible for watchful waiting. Meanwhile the methods that had stricter criteria for selecting men at higher potential risk (for example only those with larger tumours), could lead to a greater number of men being wrongly offered watchful waiting when they in fact need active treatment. The research highlights the uncertainty doctors experience when trying to accurately identify which men diagnosed with prostate cancer (for example through a combination of PSA, physical examination, imaging and biopsy) have a cance...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Cancer Medical practice Source Type: news