Too Many Older Men Are Still Screened for Prostate Cancer

NYT HEALTH: Too Many Older Men Are Still Screened for Prostate Cancer
By Paula Span
Section: Health
Source: New York Times
Published Date: May 8, 2023 at 03:00AM

Most have low-risk cancers and rarely benefit from treatment, a new study finds. Actively monitoring the condition is often the best choice.

Last summer, Joe Loree made an appointment to see his urologist. He’d occasionally noticed blood in his urine and wanted to have that checked out. His doctor ordered a prostate-specific antigen, or P.S.A., test to measure a protein in his blood that might indicate prostate cancer — or a number of more benign conditions. “It came back somewhat elevated,” said Mr. Loree, 68, an instructional designer who lives in Berkeley, Calif. A biopsy found a few cancer cells, “a minuscule amount,” he recalled. Mr. Loree was at very low risk, but nobody likes hearing the c-word. “It’s unsettling to think there’s cancer growing within me,” he said. But because his brother and a friend had both been diagnosed with prostate cancer and had undergone aggressive treatment that he preferred to avoid, Mr. Loree felt comfortable with a more conservative approach called active surveillance. It typically means periodic P.S.A. assessments and biopsies, often with M.R.I.s and other tests, to watch for signs that the cancer may be progressing. His hasn’t, so now he can get P.S.A. tests every six months instead of every three.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/08/health/prostate-cancer-screening.html