According to a new study, men diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer during the time when PSA screening was widely recommended lived longer than men who were diagnosed and treated before the "PSA era."
Researchers led by Ian M. Thompson Jr., MD, the director of the Cancer Therapy & Research Center at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, analyzed data from three large studies starting in the mid-1980s and spanning through the PSA era, which began in 1990.
Specifically, men lived for about 49 months after being diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer (cancer that had spread to other parts of the body) during the PSA era. By contrast, such men lived about 30 and 33 months before routine PSA testing was performed. The study did not look at men with prostatecancer that hadn’t spread.
African-American men are at greater risk for prostate cancer than white men, and they tend to fare worse. The advent of PSA screening may have also helped to improve the survival gap between African-American and white men with prostate cancer. Before the PSA era, African-American men lived for an average of 27 months after diagnosis. Their survival rate had increased to 48 months during the PSA era, the study shows.
The findings appear in the Journal of Urology.
PSA Testing Boosts Survival
Still, the PSA test is likely not solely responsible for these improvements. More detailed imaging and better treatments also likely play a role in these survival gains. “While not all of these welcome improvements can be attributed strictly to PSA testing, without a doubt it has played a role in extending many lives,” Thompson says in a news release.
PSA testing is controversial. A government task force recently recommended against such screening, but other groups take a softer stance. The American Cancer Society and others state that men should not get a PSA test until they discuss their personal risks and benefits with their doctor.