MASSDEVICE ON CALL — A nationwide urologists lobbying group largely discredited guidance from a U.S. Preventative Services Task Force recommending that physicians set aside a commonly used prostate cancer screening tool.
Known as the prostate-specific antigen test, or PSA, the tool may pose more risks than benefits, according to the panel.
"Many people have a blind faith in early detection of cancer and subsequent aggressive medical intervention whenever cancer is found," American Cancer Society chief medical officer Dr. Otis Brawley wrote in an accompanying commentary on the panel’s decision. "There is little appreciation of the harms that screening and medical interventions can cause."
The panel was generally concerned about the dangers of aggressive prostate cancer treatment in patients who are asymptomatic and whose cancer may have remained neutral without intervention.
The Large Urology Group Practice Assn. expressed "outrage" at the USPSTF’s recommendation, warning that "failing to detect cancer early will create a public health catastrophe in 5-10 years," according to a press release.
"USPSTF clearly ‘cherry-picked’ data to support what can only be viewed as a pre-conceived bias against screening," LUGPA president Dr. Deepak Kapoor said in a prepared statement. "The task force did not include any physician who treats prostate cancer, and ignored credible studies and epidemiological data demonstrating a significant survival advantage to early detection…we are not detecting more cancer; we are detecting cancer earlier and saving lives."
Early results presented at the European Assn. of Urology this month from a long-term study of prostate cancer patients support the USPSTF’s decision, suggesting that surgical prostatectomy barely increased the likelihood for survival in patients with low-risk tumors.
Health care cost spikes have little to do with waste, study shows
A study combining health data from 4 of the U.S.’s largest insurers found that, although the number of health care services provided decreased, the cost for individual services rose, posing a challenge to those who argue that cutting down on unnecessary services can help stem the ever-increasing cost of health care.
Read more
Wearable cancer-disrupter proves as good as chemo
Novocure’s wearable, portable NovoTTF cancer-disrupting device proves as good as chemotherapy in extending overall survival for advanced brain cancer patients, with minimal side effects and far fewer impacts to a patient’s quality of life.
Read more
Lower-risk sigmoidoscopy just as good as colonoscopy in preventing colon cancer deaths
A lower-risk colon examination using a sigmoidoscope was just as good at detecting colorectal cancer and reducing mortality rates as the more commonly used colonoscopy, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Read more
Bariatric surgery may have positive effects on blood sugar levels
A novel, experimental form of bariatric surgery helped control blood sugar levels in rats with diabetes in a study conducted at the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute.
Read more
