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PSA Screening and Elderly Men
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To the Editor: In their study examining prostate cancer screening practices performed on elderly men with limited life expectancies, Dr Walter and colleagues1 found that the serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test was inappropriately used. While Dr Albertsen2 correctly points out in his accompanying Editorial that the act of PSA screening itself poses very little risk, its true impact lies in the powerful yet ambiguous information revealed by its result. An abnormality that raises the possibility of cancer will likely lead toward a diagnostic evaluation that includes needle biopsies and possibly further laboratory studies, as well as potential treatment, all of which have additional and complicated risks. The lack of definitive evidence to support the extensive use of PSA screening for prostate cancer should prompt a dialog between clinicians and their patients. Men may assume that prostate cancer screening has the same amount of scientific support as other familiar well-patient tests . . . [Full Text of this Article]
Eric A. Singer, MD, MA
eric_singer@urmc.rochester.edu
Department of Urology
University of Rochester Medical Center
Rochester, NY
David F. Penson, MD, MPH
Section of Urology
University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine
Los Angeles
Ganesh S. Palapattu, MD
Department of Urology
University of Rochester Medical Center
RELATED LETTERS
PSA Screening and Elderly Men—Reply
Louise C. Walter and Badrinath R. Konety
JAMA. 2007;297(9):949.
EXTRACT
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PSA Screening and Elderly Men—Reply
Peter C. Albertsen
JAMA. 2007;297(9):949-950.
EXTRACT
| FULL TEXT
RELATED ARTICLE
PSA Screening Among Elderly Men With Limited Life Expectancies
Louise C. Walter, Daniel Bertenthal, Karla Lindquist, and Badrinath R. Konety
JAMA. 2006;296(19):2336-2342.
ABSTRACT
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