Post by Tony Crispino on Oct 27, 2014 20:07:24 GMT -8
In an utterly unsurprising recommendation, Canada has taken the route of many other countries, including the USPSTF here in the US to recommend against PSA based screening.
Canada says no to PSA screening
Key points in the recommendation:
1. "There clearly is not enough evidence to mount an organized screening program"
2. “However, the falling overall mortality in some countries that screen intensively, the evidence that treatment may have a very modest disease-specific mortality benefit, and the highly variable preferences for treatment outcomes suggest...that we should not push patients out of decision-making in this area."
3. “There are some men who may want that benefit"
This is against my thoughts here in general, but we continue to see is that what we truly need is more specificity than what a PSA test offers us to save lives. PSA is a very misunderstood screening tool in the prostate cancer advocacy community. It is common perception that "It's the best we have" and it over rules "it is highly flawed and commonly misused".
How do we save lives? We keep trying to get us something better to screen or treat with. It is very clear to me. Crystal clear! The efforts of all countries that have task forces that make these calls, need to include that the research has been inadequate to fix a common male disease.
If patient advocates choose to ignore this, they will continue to misunderstand the issues. I have been there on both sides. As a long time patient advocate we do not need to spend a billion dollars on screening, we need to spend a billion dollars on finding a better way to reduce PCa death rates. And it can happen.
Canada says no to PSA screening
Key points in the recommendation:
1. "There clearly is not enough evidence to mount an organized screening program"
2. “However, the falling overall mortality in some countries that screen intensively, the evidence that treatment may have a very modest disease-specific mortality benefit, and the highly variable preferences for treatment outcomes suggest...that we should not push patients out of decision-making in this area."
3. “There are some men who may want that benefit"
This is against my thoughts here in general, but we continue to see is that what we truly need is more specificity than what a PSA test offers us to save lives. PSA is a very misunderstood screening tool in the prostate cancer advocacy community. It is common perception that "It's the best we have" and it over rules "it is highly flawed and commonly misused".
How do we save lives? We keep trying to get us something better to screen or treat with. It is very clear to me. Crystal clear! The efforts of all countries that have task forces that make these calls, need to include that the research has been inadequate to fix a common male disease.
If patient advocates choose to ignore this, they will continue to misunderstand the issues. I have been there on both sides. As a long time patient advocate we do not need to spend a billion dollars on screening, we need to spend a billion dollars on finding a better way to reduce PCa death rates. And it can happen.