Using your own criteria, you can request information from a database of 900 area physicians who have registered to participate. We would be happy to assist you in scheduling an appointment with a member of the hospital's medical staff. What's interesting about this article coming out of Canada is that they reported a significant decrease in mortality from prostate cancer, which has never really been shown before. These physicians are probably detecting more advanced cancers using PSA screening, which are then being treated with hormonal therapy and therefore stretching out the lifespan of the patients studied. This group of physicians has long favored using hormone therapy early when treating advanced prostate cancer.
Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in American men after lung cancer.
Indeed, the PSA test is not perfect. Other diseases of the prostate, such as infection and benign prostate enlargement, can result in elevations of the PSA level. With increased PSA testing, the number of prostate cancers diagnosed in recent years has skyrocketed. If we concentrate on screening people selectively, we will still identify the men who will benefit from treatment, while avoiding putting other men through needless procedures and suffering as a result. True, PSA testing is picking up cancers at earlier stages than ever before, but it also picks up cancers that may never become life-threatening in certain patients.