Prostate Cancer Test Is Useless, Warn Scientists

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Prostate Cancer Test Is Useless, Warn Scientists

Provided by Daily Mail on 9/11/2004

by ROBIN YAPP

Back to Healthy News

 

THOUSANDS of men may have had needless surgery because the test

commonly used to diagnose prostate cancer is flawed, scientists

revealed yesterday.

 

They warned that the prostate specific antigen ( PSA) test was ' all

but useless' for predicting the risk of the disease becoming serious.

 

But doctors still use it to test for early signs of cancer, and the

discovery of raised levels of the protein PSA can lead to men having

radical surgery, sometimes leaving them incontinent or impotent.

 

A study by experts at Stanford University Medical School of Medicine

in the U.S. suggests the test can no longer be relied upon to produce

accurate results. The authors declared: 'The PSA era is over.' Experts

increasingly believe the test leads to needless treatment such as

radiotherapy, when men could be monitored and live with the cancer

without it ever causing a problem. Researchers studied prostate

tissues collected over 20 years, from the time it first became

standard to remove prostates in response to high PSA levels to the

present.

 

The team, led by Professor Thomas Stamey, said in the Journal of

Urology that, as a screening test, the PSA indicated nothing more than

the size of the prostate gland.

 

Professor Stamey added: 'Our study raises a very serious question of

whether a man should even use the test for prostate cancer.' PSA

screening has become more commonplace in the U.S. In the UK there is

no screening programme, with men only having the test at their own

request. But nonetheless thousands have opted for it on the NHS with

the number rising.

 

Cancer experts here have voiced concerns that the test could not

distinguish between cancers which were 'tigers' and those which were

'pussycats', leading many men into treatments they did not need.

Professor Stamey said raised levels of the protein PSA reflected only

a condition known as benign prostatic hyperplasia - a harmless

increase in prostate size.

 

Prostate cancer was a disease all men developed if they lived long

enough, so, given the chance to carry out a biopsy, doctors were

likely to find it.

 

The Institute of Cancer Research in the UK advocates a system of

'active surveillance' whereby men with slightly raised PSA levels

could be monitored for further increases which would warrant treatment.

 

The Department of Health said: 'We recognise the PSA test is not as

accurate as some screening tests for other cancers, and is available

on the NHS only by request if a man has been counselled on the risks

and limitations.' Prostate cancer is the most common form of the

disease to affect men in Britain, with 27 , 000 cases diagnosed each

year and around 10,000 deaths.

 

r.yapp

 

© 2004 Daily Mail.

[Guest guest]

Why should anyone trust a doctor to diagnose cancer

from a biopsy, either--I would like to know how

accurate the identification of a tissue as cancerous

is. What does it mean to " have cancer " ?

 

The problem with our healthcare is the doctors are not

allowed to think independently or to question lab

results. Anyone who has worked in a biomedical lab

knows that tests have ranges of error.

 

Given the level of corruption in our medical system, I

can see no reason to trust anything a doctor says. If

the hospital system made efforts to be more

accountable and scientific, perhaps we could trust it

more. The reality is that if a patient detects fraud

or any other problem or abuse, he is told that his

only recourse is to complain to the State Dept of

Health or to file your own personal lawsuit. Rarely

will the Dept of Health take action. The hospital

administration will act deaf, dumb, and blind, knowing

that the average person will get nowhere. Other

watchdog organizations such as the Attorney General's

Office, Health and Human Services, and Civil Rights

Organizations will refuse to lift a finger, acting as

security guards for the corrupt medical system.

Everywhere you turn, you will discover that nobody

cares.

 

How many people have faithfully followed their

doctor's advice to the grave?

 

The only solution I can see is to boycott the system

as far as possible and to starve it out. i.e. treat it

like a cancer. As long as we continue to feed the

corrupt system, it just isn't going to figure out what

it is doing wrong. Once it is replaced by a medical

Home Depot, everyone can bypass the medical system and

get on with their lives. We must break the back of

this corrupt monopoly. This cannot happen any other

way except financially becuase our government and the

media is also deaf, dumb, and blind-wink, wink, wiink.

(as they enjoy Big Pharma's money)

 

http://healthy.net/scr/news.asp?Id=9886

 

Prostate Cancer Test Is Useless, Warn Scientists

Provided by Daily Mail on 9/11/2004

by ROBIN YAPP

Back to Healthy News

 

Re: Quote from article on the prostate cancer test

giving false positives:

" Prostate cancer was a disease all men developed if

they lived long enough, so, given the chance to carry

out a biopsy, doctors were likely to find it. "

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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