PSA test for prostate cancer
The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) issued a new evidence-based Provisional Clinical Opinion on the use of PSA (prostate-specific antigen) testing for prostate cancer screening.
The ASCO Provisional Clinical Opinion panel, co-chaired by Dr. Robert Nam, urological oncologist, Genitorurinary Cancer Care team, Sunnybrook's Odette Cancer Centre, and Dr. Ethan Basch, medical oncologist, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, recommends physicians discuss the benefits and risks of PSA testing with their asymptomatic male patients who have life expectancies of greater than 10 years, but states the risks outweigh the benefits for men with shorter life expectancies. The benefits include identifying higher risk prostate cancer earlier when treatment may be more effective, while the risks include over-diagnosis, unnecessary biopsy and treatment, and treatment side effects.
