The following statement about the recent controversy regarding PSA esting was issued this morning by the thirteen organizations, including Malecare (the sponsor of this blog), listed at the bottom of the statement:
A JOINT STATEMENT FROM AMERICA’S PROSTATE CANCER ADVOCACY, EDUCATION, AND SUPPORT ORGANIZATIONS
Since 1993, when the PLCO trial was started, we have awaited the results of this trial with eager anticipation, as have others. The initial report of the results of this study — and those of a comparable European trial — published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine have told us two things:
* The studies offer conflicting evidence about the possibility of a prostate cancer-specific survival benefit associated with the regular use of prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing and digital rectal examination (DRE).
* These studies provide no convincing evidence that mass screening of men over 50 or 55 years of age will lead to a prostate cancer-specific survival benefit within 10 years.
We have come together to make two clear statements about these trials:
* Above all we thank the patients, the investigators, and the national authorities that funded these two trials for their efforts. The
development and implementation of these trials over the past 16 years has been an enormous commitment by all concerned.
* We enthusiastically support the continued follow-up of patients in the prostate cancer arm of the PLCO study for at least a further 5 years, through 2014, as originally envisaged.
In addition, in the long-term interests of the health of every man in the USA, and with health reform recognized as a national priority, we wish to state the follo