
A large new study of U.S. veterans suggests that when prostate cancer screening rates go down, the number of men diagnosed with advanced cancer then rises. Researchers found that across 128 U.S. veterans health centers, the rate of PSA screening for prostate cancer declined between 2008 and 2019 — a period where guidelines came out recommending against routine screening. But patterns varied among the individual centers, with some maintaining high screening rates. And in subsequent years, the study found, a trend emerged: VA centers with higher PSA screening rates had fewer cases of metastatic prostate cancer, while more cases were diagnosed at centers with lower screening rates. Metastatic refers to prostate cancers that have spread to distant sites in the body and cannot be cured. Experts said the findings do not mean that all men at average risk of prostate cancer should be routinely screened for the disease. But the results do add to a longstanding debate over the issue. Prostate cancer is very common: About 1 in 8 men will be diagnosed with the disease in their lifetime, according to the American Cancer Society. But the cancer is often slow-growing, and may never progress to the point of threatening a man’s life: About 1 in every 41 men actually die of the disease. That’s why routine screening — with blood tests that measure a… read on > read on >