They urged doctors to stop screening older men for prostate cancer, which will kill an estimated 28,600 men in the United States this year.
Two major studies have found that PSA testing -- the annual blood test used to screen men for prostate cancer -- saves few if any lives, while exposing patients to treatments that can leave them impotent and incontinent.
In an article published in December in The American Journal of Medicine, researchers from the University of North Carolina and the University of Massachusetts in Boston noted that screening men for prostate cancer had become popular even though it had not been shown to be lifesaving in a randomized clinical trial.
Last week, two major studies from the United States and Europe found that P.S.A. testing — the annual blood test used to screen men for prostate cancer — saves few if any lives, while exposing patients to aggressive and unnecessary treatments that can leave them impotent and incontinent.
So the American College of Physicians offers this guidance to doctors: "Rather than screening all men for prostate cancer as a matter of routine, physicians should describe the potential benefits and known harms of screening, diagnosis and treatment, listen to the patient's concerns and then individualize the decision to screen".
The debate about screening older men for prostate cancer was reignited last week after reports that the billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who is 81, said he received a diagnosis of early-stage prostate cancer after a routine blood test for prostate specific antigen, or P.S.A.
The sensitivity and specificity profile of measuring levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) to select men for prostate biopsy is not optimal.
Randomised controlled trials comparing screening of asymptomatic men for prostate cancer versus no screening were eligible for inclusion.
As regards PSA practice, GPs were asked 'Do you usually use PSA to test asymptomatic men for prostate cancer?
The primary outcome was whether, or not, GPs usually used PSA to test asymptomatic men for prostate cancer.
