How Improvements in Treatment Have Reduced Problems Associated With Treatment

The report, in the September 2009 edition of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute estimates 1.3 million additional men have been diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer since 1987. Authors claim most of this group are likely to have been overdiagnosed.

“Given the considerable time that has passed since PSA screening began, most of this excess incidence must represent overdiagnosis,” the authors write. “All overdiagnosed 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 increased diagnosis has been most dramatic among younger men: more than tripling since 1986 in men aged 50-59 (from 58.4 to 212.7 per 100, 000) and more than a sevenfold increase in men under age 50 (from 1.3 to 9.4 per 100,000). (more…)