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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A new report suggests more than one million men have gone through needless treatment for prostate cancer since the PSA test became available more than 20 years ago. This doesn't mean diagnosing cancer where none exists, but that many men had a form of cancer that could have been left alone safely.
All over diagnosed patients are needlessly exposed to the hassle factors of obtaining treatment, the financial implications of the diagnosis, and the anxieties associated with becoming a cancer patient," the study's authors were quoted as saying.
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Doctors have known over-diagnosis can happen with PSA tests, but authors claim to have the first firm count of how many men are affected.
According to the study, men in their fifties are 3.6 times more likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer than before the PSA test. Men younger than 50 are 7.2 times more likely to be diagnosed.
Experts say there is a desperate need for the ability to predict whether a patient's cancer is destined to grow into suffering and death, or whether the cancer is destined to remain in the patient's prostate for life.
In 2009, more than 192,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer, and more than 27,000 men will die from the disease, according to the Prostate Cancer Foundation.
SOURCE: Journal of the National Cancer Institute, August 31, 2009
If this story or any other Ivanhoe story has impacted your life or prompted you or someone you know to seek or change treatments, please let us know by contacting Melissa Medalie at mmedalie@ivanhoe.com
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
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