Study Questions Prostate Cancer Screening

Two widely used tests for prostate cancer failed to save lives in a new study, adding to the debate over whether men should be screened for the disease.

The study was small _ only 1,002 men _ and will not be the final word on the issue. But it may hint at what lies ahead when the results of two large studies of prostate cancer screening appear in a few years.

The researchers looked at two screening tests that are performed millions of times a year in the United States: a blood test that measures prostate specific antigen, or PSA, and a digital rectal exam, the rubber-glove test in which a doctor feels for abnormalities in the prostate through the rectal wall.

Study co-author Dr. John Concato, a clinical epidemiologist at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System, said that for now, doctors should tell men that screening tests for prostate cancer are not perfect, and men should decide for themselves whether to get screened.

Read the full report here.