PSA Test Saves Lives

SYDNEY, Australia, Oct. 7 /Medianet International-AsiaNet/ -- Australian and New Zealand men should be reassured that the PSA (prostate specific antigen) blood test for prostate cancer saves lives according to the peak body representing urological surgeons in both countries.

"Currently the PSA test conducted in conjunction with a physical examination is the best available 'flag' for the possibility of prostate cancer," says Dr Stephen Ruthven, President of the Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand.

Dr Ruthven says Australian and New Zealand men should not be alarmed by reports that the United States Preventative Services Task Force, will recommend that healthy men should no longer receive a PSA blood test to screen for prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in men, and is the second most common cause of cancer deaths in men. Prostate cancer kills more than 3300 Australian and New Zealand men each year. More men die from the disease than women die from breast cancer.

The report has already attracted widespread criticism in the United States.

"It's important to remember that most men with prostate cancer do not have any symptoms," says Dr Ruthven.

"The PSA blood test does not diagnose prostate cancer. But it raises a red flag and identifies those men who need to have prostate cancer excluded through further investigation via a prostate biopsy.

"For those men with prostate cancer, the biopsy will help determine which are the more aggressive, life-threatening tumours requiring immediate treatment, and which tumours are growing more slowly and may be safely monitored over time under an 'active surveillance' protocol," says Dr Ruthven.

Recent research confirms that the PSA test saves lives. The results of the Goteborg Randomised Population-based Prostate Cancer Screening Trial, released in July 2010 showed a 44 percent decline in prostate cancer deaths as a result of PSA testing. In this highly-regarded Swedish study an analysis of some 20,000 men was conducted over a 14 year period.

SOURCE: Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand

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