Elderly Men Over 75 Continue to Get Screened for Prostate Cancer

A new study has revealed that men over 75 years of age continue to get screened for prostate cancer even though the United States Preventive Services Task Force had recommended back in 2008 that such tests should not be carried out. In 2005, before the recommendations were released, 43 percent of men age 75 and above elected to take the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test. In August 2008, the Task Force stated it "recommends against the service," arguing "there is moderate or high certainty the service has no net benefit or that the harms outweigh the benefits."

Survey results from 2010, however, published in the April 25, 2012, issue of JAMA, found that two years after the Task Force's recommendations were announced, the screening rate for that group of men had gone up slightly, to 43.9 percent. This is higher than the rates for men in their 40s (12.5 percent) or 50s (33.2 percent), who are more likely to benefit from early diagnosis and treatment. Only men aged 60 to 74 were more likely to get the screening test (51.2 percent).



Source-Eurekalert