Between 2011 and 2013, the proportion of men diagnosed with intermediate- or high-risk prostate cancer, increased by 3% per year. Thank you members of the United States Preventive Services Task Force for realy blowing it and tapping in the nail into the coffins of American men.

In a preliminary study the authors estimate that this trend may translate to morel higher-risk prostate cancer diagnoses nationwide, compared to 2011.  High risk prostate cancer often becomes advanced prostate cancer, incurable and often, terminal.

The study’s conclusions are preliminary and must be confirmed through further research.

The researchers looked at roughly 87,500 men treated for prostate cancer since 2005  and found a notable increase in higher-risk cases.  The proportion of men diagnosed with intermediate- and high-risk disease increased by nearly 6% between 2011 and 2013. While a rise in mortality has not yet been seen, the authors estimated this apparent trend could produce 1,400 additional prostate cancer deaths per year (based on the 2014 estimated number of new prostate cancer cases and the relative survival of patients with low- vs high-risk cancer).

This study will be presented at the 2015 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium, to be held February 26 to 28 in Orlando (Abstract 143).

Joel T. Nowak, M.A., M.S.W.