Prostate Cancer Screening Did Not Reduce Prostate Cancer Deaths
in U.S. Trial The Bottom Line Initial results from a large
randomized trial conducted in the United States suggest that
prostate cancer screening with the digital rectal examination
(DRE) and prostate specific antigen (PSA) tests may not reduce
the number of deaths from prostate cancer. The Whole Story The
goal of cancer screening is to find cancer early, before there
are symptoms and when the disease may be most treatable. A truly
effective cancer screening test, therefore, should help reduce
the number of deaths from the cancer it aims to detect.
Currently, two tests are widely used to screen for prostate
cancer, DRE and the PSA test. Although both tests can help
doctors find prostate cancer at an early stage, it is not clear
whether earlier detection and treatment of prostate cancer will
help reduce the number of deaths from this disease. To address
this question, the National Cancer Institute included an
evaluation of DRE and PSA testing in i