prostate

The U.S. Prevention Services Task Force released its 2017 draft recommendations for prostate cancer screening. Here we extensively address the new guidelines, clarify the role of the PSA test, and delve deeper into the topic with Dr. David Samadi, Chairman of Urology and Chief of Robotic Surgery at New York's Lenox Hill Hospital.
Actor Ben Stiller recently chronicled how early diagnosis of prostate cancer, using a routine blood test, saved his life. And he's urging all men over 40 to discuss the PSA test with their doctor. However, we here at the Council and other organizations have been critical of it, so it's fitting that we review where science stands on the issue.
In 2012, an official federal panel designated routine PSA testing a Grade D: don't do it. Since then, doctors across the board have cut back on it. Not urologists, however. Their use of PSAs has not budged. Why? Simply, with more PSAs, abnormal results increase, and more urological procedures are done.
A new study shows a strong association between androgen-deprivation therapy for advanced prostate cancer, and the development of Alzheimer's disease. This is a retrospective data-based study, so no change in treatment using ADT is indicated now. Further, prospective studies are needed.
Because of the 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA), dietary supplement purveyors can't claim that their products can prevent, treat or cure disease. So they have to resort to "support" verbiage. But we know what they really mean.
A new type of genetic analysis of prostate cancers from biopsies seems to give a better assessment of prognosis than the standard methods. What implications might this have for the future of prostate cancer prognosis and follow-up?
Large database study of Medicare patients shows no significant benefit in terms of survival from prostate cancer for those receiving androgen deprivation therapy: bilateral orchiectomy or hormonal anti-androgens.
The media are vulnerable to anti-chemical hype purveyed by activist environmental groups. They often warn us that pesticides are causing a cancer epidemic. The facts show that the opposite is true: cancer rates are in decline and have been for years.
No medical organization recommends the prostate-specific antigen test for older men, and yet many primary care doctors continue to administer it even to those over age 75. Why?
Finasteride, a drug most often used to reduce enlarged prostates and counter male-pattern baldness, was shown to reduce the risk of prostate cancer.