ACCEPTING the latest recommendation on how to interpret a controversial test for prostate cancer would mean that more men will undergo unnecessary treatments that can leave them impotent or incontinent, say critics.
The test measures the level of prostate-specific antigen (PSA), an protein produced by the prostate gland. Prostate tumours pump out more PSA than normal. But ever since the test was first used 12 years ago, a battle has raged over whether the benefits justify the the risks, mirroring the debate over mammography screening for breast cancer in women.
Prostate tumours are the most common form of cancer in men. Nearly half of 50-year-old men, and 80 per cent of 80-year-olds, have some form of prostate cancer. But most tumours grow so slowly the men will die of old age before the cancer becomes dangerous. Only 3 per cent of men in the US die of the disease.
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