Prostate Cancer PSA Test Can Save Lives, But the Benefits Are Small

Doctors explain prostate cancer screening to patients in a health consultation. Recent studies show that the PSA test can help reduce the risk of death from prostate cancer, but it also has the potential to trigger diagnoses and treatments that are not always necessary. (Illustration made by AI.)

JAKARTA - Blood tests for prostate cancer screening can save men's lives. However, citing a report by The Guardian, Friday, May 15, the latest large study shows that the benefits are small and the risks still need to be considered.

A review of six clinical trials involving nearly 800,000 men found a prostate-specific antigen or PSA test can reduce deaths from prostate cancer. According to the review, the death rate fell by two cases for every 1,000 men examined.

This means that about 500 men need to undergo screening to prevent one death from prostate cancer.

Professor Philipp Dahm, a urologist at the University of Minnesota, said the benefits of the new screening were only seen after very long follow-up.

"Prostate cancer screening does reduce prostate cancer mortality, but the benefit is only seen after a very long time," said Dahm.

The problem is, the PSA test is not always accurate. This test can find dangerous cancer, but it can also detect benign cancer that may never cause problems.

The risk arises here. Some men can undergo surgery, radiotherapy, or hormone therapy that is not really necessary. The impact can be heavy: urinary disorders, incontinence, to erectile dysfunction.

The ProtecT clinical trial found 8 to 47 percent of men reported sexual or urinary dysfunction after radiotherapy or prostate cancer surgery.

Dr. Juan Franco from Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf stressed that the results of this study were not a green light for mass screening.

He reminded that the risk of excessive diagnosis and unnecessary treatment remains real.

"The important thing is the discussion with the patient and the joint decision-making," said Franco.

Referring to The Guardian, prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. In the UK, more than 64 thousand new cases are diagnosed every year. The risk of getting this disease is experienced by one in eight men, and rises to one in four in black men.

The UK's National Screening Committee last year did not recommend prostate cancer screening for most men. However, a special program is recommended for men with BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations, which are associated with more aggressive cancers.

Researchers are also reviewing new methods, including additional prostate protein tests and MRI scans. These technologies look promising, but it's too early to tell if they can save more lives with less risk.

Dr. Ian Walker of Cancer Research UK said the PSA test can save one to two lives out of every 1,000 men tested. However, about 30 other men can be diagnosed with cancer who may not have harmed them.

According to Walker, some of them can undergo treatments that have long-term effects, including loss of bladder control and erectile dysfunction.