New Cost-Effective Prostate Cancer Screening Method

A new study shows that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been shown to reduce overdiagnosis of low-risk prostate cancers.

The combination of a novel blood test and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can reduce overdiagnosis of low-risk cancers as well as societal costs in prostate cancer screening, according to a study from Karolinska Institutet published in the journal European Urology.

A barrier to the introduction of nationwide prostate cancer screening has been that PSA (prostate-specific antigen) tests combined with traditional biopsies result in the detection of numerous minor low-risk tumors .

Prostate Specific Antigen [PSA] & Prostate Cancer Diagnosis
PSA blood test is specific to prostate gland but not necessarily a cancer specific test but is commonly used to diagnose prostate cancer.

‘Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) -based screening combined with blood tests would reduce prostate cancer-related deaths by 7–9 percent over a lifetime.’

The clinical trial has previously shown that a blood test called Stockholm3, developed by researchers at Karolinska Institutet, can reduce the number of MRIs by a third for a single screening occasion.

Now, the same research group reports that this combination is also considered cost-effective in Sweden compared with both no screening and PSA test in MRI-based screening.

“Our latest results show that using Stockholm3 reduces the number of MRIs over a lifetime by 60 percent. This also avoids unnecessary biopsies by 9 percent, which reduces the overdiagnosis of low-risk cancers,” says Mark Clements, associate professor at the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, who is responsible for the cost-effectiveness study.

Prostate Cancer | Cancer of Prostate - Incidence, Prevention, Causes, Symptoms & Treatment
This cancer affects men over the age of 50 years and screening with rectal examination and PSA can help both in early detection and effective treatment

The health economic evaluation also showed that compared with no screening, screening with PSA followed by Stockholm3 and MRI in high-risk individuals is classified as a moderate cost per quality-adjusted life-years (QALY) gained as defined by the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare.

Furthermore, PSA combined with MRI is classified as a very high cost per QALY gained compared with Stockholm3 combined with MRI.

Prostate Cancer Screening
PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) test and Digital Rectal Examination are two tests that allow detection of prostate cancer at early stages.

This new combination with Stockholm3 can save healthcare resources and reduce societal costs while maintaining the health benefits from the early detection of prostate cancer. This presents an interesting option for prostate cancer screening in Sweden.

The current health economic evaluation is specific to Sweden, but the simulation model used in this study is open source and can be readily adapted to assess the use of Stockholm3 and MRI in other countries.

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Source-Medindia