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lu n e 6, 2012
Page 21
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Prostate Cancer Screening Saves Lives
Talk to your
doctor about
pros and cons
m edical tests should be avoided,
but the evid en ce for elim inating
P S A sc re e n in g s fo r p ro sta te
cancer, esp ecially for A frican
A m erican m en, is inconclusive
at best. Instead o f abandoning
P S A screenings for e v ery
one, w e encourage m ore
ed u catio n for both p ro v id
ers and patients that will
allow m en to m ake m ore
inform ed d ecisions about
the risks and benefits o f
the test. T here are several rea
sons for o u r position.
F irst, w hile prostate can cer
rem ains the second leading cause
o f can cer death am ong m en, we
also know that advances in early
d e te ctio n and treatm en t have
resu lted in a 40 percent decline
in p rostate death s in the U nited
S tates o v e r the past tw o d e
c a d e s.
T he N ational M edical A sso
ciatio n , the n a tio n ’s leading ad
v o cate fo r A frican A m erican
p h y s ic ia n s a n d p a tie n ts, has
stated that PS A screening re
m ains the best m ethod to d etect
e a rly sta g e , c u ra b le p ro sta te
M arc H. M orial
*
L a s t m o n th , th e
U n ited S tates P rev en
tiv e S e r v ic e s T a s k
F o rce re c o m m e n d e d
th a t h e a l th y m e n
should no longer take a
ro u tin e P S A blood test for p ro s
tate c an c er because the p ro ce
dure m ay lead patients to pursue
u n n ecessary and potentially d e
b ilitatin g treatm ents for a d is
ease that m ay n ev er fully d e
velop.
T he N ational U rban L eague
jo in s the N ational M edical A s
so ciation, the P rostate H ealth
E d u catio n N etw ork, the A m eri
can U rological A ssociation and
o th er leading m edical experts in
rejecting that conclusion, e sp e
cially fo r A frican A m erican m en
w ho are 6 0 percent m ore likely
to d e v elo p p rostate can cer an d
tw ice as likely to d ie from it.
W e ag ree that un n ecessary cancers.
by
T he group endorses
th e A m e r ic a n U r o lo g ic a l
A ssociation’s guidelines for early
detection, w hich include initial
PSA testing at 4 0 years and a
m ulti-factorial assessm ent o f risk
based on age, ethnicity, and family
history.
Second, the association also
points out that the task force
m ade its reco m m en d atio n based
on large clin ical stu d ies p er
form ed in E urope, C an ad a and
the U nited States, w hich included
very few A frican A m erican m en.
A nd third, w hile the task force
correctly states that a p ercen t
age o f m en will experience harm
ful side effects from treatm ents
follow in g the PSA test, the test
itself is risk-free. It sim ply alerts
both d o cto r and p atien t to the
p ossib le presence o f disease.
A nthony D ’A m ico, c h ie f o f
G en ito u rin ary R adiation O n co l
ogy at B o sto n ’s B righam and
W om en 's H ospital suggests that
the task fo rc e ’s reco m m en d a
tion m ay actually be harm ful to
high risk groups, w hich includes
A frican A m erican m en. He said,
“ I thin k m en at high r is k .. .have
the m ost to lose from not getting
PSA tests. T h ey are the ones
w ho get the lethal can cers.”
In a letter acco m p an y in g the
task force reco m m en d atio n in
the M ay 21 issue o f the A nnals
o f Internal M edicine, D ’A m ico
and o th er leading prostate c an
c er e x p e rts c o n c lu d e d , “T h e
U S P S T F has u n derestim ated the
benefits and overestim ated the
harm s o f prostate can cer screen
ing. T herefore, w e disagree w ith
the U S P S T F ’s re c o m m e n d a
tio n .” So do we.
S ince 1922, the N ational U r
ban L eague has been a leading
p ro v id er o f h ealth -related ser
vices in the A frican A m erican
com m unity. W e urge A frican
A m erican m en to continue d is
cussing the pros and cons o f
prostate can cer screening w ith
their doctors. A nd we support
m ore co m m u n ity -b ased e d u ca
tion and early intervention e f
forts for low -incom e and m in o r
ity patients w ho face b arriers to
co n sisten t, quality health care.
Marc H. Morial is presi
dent and chief executive of
ficer of the National Urban
League.
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