Despite some evidence that men with a family history of prostate cancer are more likely to develop the disease themselves, limiting screening efforts to these men will miss many cases of the disease.
In a study of more than 20,000 men, just 6% of prostate cancer cases would have been detected if testing for prostate specific antigen (PSA) -- a protein linked to prostate cancer -- was restricted to men with a family history of the disease.
The aim of prostate cancer screening should be for wide coverage of the population. Right now, too little is known about the risk factors for prostate cancer to identify a high-risk group of men who would benefit more than others from screening.
Since PSA testing became common in the early 1990s, death rates for prostate cancer have declined, according to the American Cancer Society. However, whether the use of this test is responsible for the decline has not been proved. Studies designed to evaluate the benefits of PSA screening are under way.
The American Cancer Society recommends annual PSA testing and a rectal exam beginning at age 50 (age 45 for African Americans and men with a family history of the disease). Several other scientific and medical groups do not recommend routine prostate cancer screening.
Journal of Clinical Oncology June 2002;20:2658-2663
One of the areas traditional medicine is particularly good at is diagnostic screenings. Since prostate cancer is the number one cancer in men, it makes sense to implement PSA screenings at 40 years old rather than 50.
One concern with PSA testing is that it may identify men with extremely slow-growing prostate tumors who would most likely die of other causes before the cancer contributed to any health problems. For these men, therapy for prostate cancer, which carries a risk of side effects, would be a very poor choice.
However, there are nutrients that are likely to benefit prostate cancer. Fish oil supplements in appropriate doses and lowering the level of omega 6 fats in one's diet may be the two most important factors of reducing the risk of prostate cancer. The studies are not yet done, but it is my current belief that this may provide more than a 95% risk of reduction in most people if combined with other elements from the eating plan.
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