By Aoife Connors
Men diagnosed with prostate cancer often receive intense and aggressive treatments such as radiation therapy, despite the fact that their cancer is not fatal and is unlikely to spread, a new study has shown.
The Archives of Internal Medicine on July 26 reported that researchers found one in seven men were diagnosed with low blood levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA). These patients were less likely to have quickly developing tumours, and more than half were considered at low risk of disease because PSA levels lower than 4.0ng/mL mean there is a very low risk of disease.
Despite this, the patients were just as likely to receive intensive treatment as patients with higher PSA scores.
Over 75 per cent had either prostate surgery or radiation treatment and these had serious side effects, including incontinence and erectile dysfunction, according to the study.
The data was gathered from a large cancer registry to analyse the risk profiles and treatment patterns of 123,934 men whose cases were diagnosed between 2004 and 2006. Regular PSA testing and close monitoring may have been more beneficial for these patients, the authors suggest, otherwise the risk of overdiagnosis and overtreatment increases.
To read the entire study, follow the link: http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/170/14/1256?maxtoshow=&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=prostate+cancer&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT
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