Prostate Health

Prostate overdiagnosis is basically detection of prostate cancer using prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing that would otherwise not have been spotted within patients’ lifetimes. Since prostate cancer incidence in the US is high, its detection and overall treatment are of extreme importance. Prostate overdiagnosis is used for detecting cancers that wouldn’t have become apparent during the normal course of an individual’s existence.

About Prostate Overdiagnosis

Prostate cancer screening is closely related to prostate overdiagnosis. It’s an attempt to try and find unsuspected cancers in the body. General screening tests may give rise to more specific follow-up exams like biopsies, wherein small portions of the prostate are taken for further study.

Currently, prostate overdiagnosis and cancer screening options include digital rectal exams and PSA blood tests. However, it’s not clear whether the benefits of prostate cancer screening and prostate overdiagnosis outweigh the known risks of doing follow-up diagnostic testing and treatments, which makes it all the more controversial.

Prostate cancer is a fairly slow-growing type of cancer. It’s extremely common among elderly men. In fact, majority of prostate cancers never grow enough to the point of exhibiting symptoms. Most guys with prostate cancer die of other diseases or causes, way before prostate cancer has a dramatic impact on their lives.

The PSA screening test as it relates to prostate overdiagnosis, is useful for detecting these small cancers that would possibly never reach life-threatening proportions. Running the PSA test in such men could lead to prostate overdiagnosis, plus additional tests and treatments. Follow-up tests like prostate biopsy, might cause pain, infection and bleeding. Prostate cancer treatments may result in erectile dysfunction and urinary incontinence.

Prostate overdiagnosis is helpful in revealing the existence of related cancers in men. Screening for prostate cancer usually starts after the age of 50, but it could also be offered sooner in black men or those with a strong history of prostate cancer in their family. Although there’s no officially proposed cutoff, most healthcare providers cease PSA monitoring and other prostate overdiagnosis tests in men once they reach 75 years and up.

Assuming that PSA screenings are effective, prostate overdiagnosis is considered by many to be quite acceptable ? well, save for the fact that a lot of men diagnosed with prostate cancer via PSA testing would have to endure unnecessary biopsies and significant risks of side effects from cancer treatment, even if they’d benefit nothing from the treatment.

Share This