RE: Outcome of cancer blood tests

[Guest guest]

"wiech89"

<wiech89

Tue Aug 10, 2004 8:57pm

Re: Blood Test Predicts Prostate Cancer Risk

 

They have been doing PSA and ''free PSA'' tests for years and

this is really not news and what is worse, it's being pushed as

another means to state without reservation the presence of a disease

they know nothing about. Any urologist or radiation oncologist or

medical oncologist with tell you that after surgery to remove your

prostate at some point in time you can expect to have to be treated

again with radiation. Then when that finally does not work, you will

be treated with hormones that will castrate you and make you grow

large breasts, as well as make you an emotional wreck. Not to mention

bone thinning and heart disease, which is usually ultimately what

will kill you and not the prostate cancer. Of course with radiation

you end up incontinent with both your urine and your feces. If you

are very, very unfortunate you will be offered chemo-therapy. Now you

will die a horrible death for sure. ''All'' chemo-therapy drugs are

considered experimental, even the ones which have been in use for the

past 20 years.

 

Instead of worrying whether or not your cancer is missed, you

best worry about what they are going to do to you when they find it!

I like Mercola and his website but they have been doing these tests

now for the past 7 years just as you describe. What they havn't

figured out how to do is cure prostate cancer or even treat it

without destroying you to the point where you may not want to live.

Just my opinion. You know many quacks do have M.D. after thier names

whether they know it or not.

 

WIECH

 

 

quackwatch ,

"M M" <SpokaneRealtor@h...> wrote:

> Blood Test Predicts Prostate Cancer Risk

>

>

http://www.mercola.com/1998/archive/prostate_cancer_predictive_blood_t

est.htm

>

> Currently, prostate cancer risk in middle-aged and older men is

partly

> determined by a blood test for total prostate-specific antigen

(PSA). A new

> test also measures blood PSA, but only the percentage of PSA that

is "free"

> or not bound to other proteins. Using the two tests together,

physicians may

> be able to further refine their estimations of an individual

patient's risk

> of prostate cancer, and reduce the number of prostate biopsies

performed by

> as much as 20%, or about 120,000 biopsies per year in the US alone.

>

> The researchers found that by using an upper cutoff of 25% free

PSA, they

> could correctly identify 95% of the men in this group who had

prostate

> cancer while reducing the number of unnecessary biopsies performed

 

by

> approximately 20%. Moreover, the percentage of free PSA was a

stronger

> predictor of the presence of prostate cancer than were two

traditional risk

> factors, total PSA and age, in this group of patients.

>

> However, by definition, its 95% sensitivity implies that 5% of

patients with

> prostate cancer would be missed using such a test. The cancers

missed were

> most often in older men with larger glands, who tended to have

less

> aggressive disease. The investigators note that these patients are

 

often not

> affected by or treated for prostate cancer.

>

> If the free PSA measurement is outside the 25% cut-off, urologists

 

can have

> a fair amount of confidence that they're not missing an underlying

 

cancer. A

> prostate biopsy costs about $1,200. The anticipated cost of both

total and

> free PSA tests is $130, a considerable financial saving where

applicable.

>

> The Journal of the American Medical Association May

20,1998;279:1542-1547

>

> COMMENT: As mentioned in newsletter #40, the FDA approved this

test. The

> test has been available for a few years but the FDA approval now

means that

> insurance companies will likely pay for it. It is a great test for

 

> diagnosing prostate cancer. I would also review issue #34 and #41

for more

> information on treatment of prostate cancer.

>

>

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