Search Results for "psa screening"
A win for readers: coverage of new prostate cancer screening guidelines focuses on shared decision making
When the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) issued a statement recommending against prostate cancer screening in 2012, its guidance was met with often vituperative attacks from professional organizations and advocacy groups. The muted response to new recommendations released this past Tuesday supporting personalized decision making for men 55 to 69 must have come as […]
4
Prostate cancer screening: massive study gets minimal coverage. Why?
The largest-ever randomized trial of using the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test in asymptomatic men over the age of 50 has found — after about 10 years of follow-up — no significant difference in prostate cancer deaths among men who were screened with a single (“one-off”) PSA test, and those who weren’t screened. The findings come […]
3
A prostate ‘Pep Talk’ is the wrong way to get men thinking about cancer screening
With September’s Prostate Cancer Awareness Month in full swing, an industry-affiliated partnership has turned to high-profile former NFL coaches to deliver its prostate cancer screening message. It’s a clever choice: professional coaches are good at getting men to do all kinds of things they might not otherwise want to do, whether it’s extra wind sprints […]
9
Most news coverage on new PSA testing study acknowledged costly trade-offs
The major health news story last week was on a re-assessment of prostate cancer screening published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The study’s release generated stories in the New York Times, TIME, Consumer Reports, STAT, ABS-CBN News (Philippines) and the LA Times, among others. The reporting confirms what we already know about the PSA test […]
Imbalanced ‘Saved by the Scan’ campaign neglects big concerns over lung cancer screening
Everyone who has ever smoked cigarettes should take this quiz because “Lung cancer screening could save your life,” according to the American Lung Association’s (ALA) new “Saved by the Scan” campaign. But after taking that quiz, almost all current or former smokers (roughly 9 out of 10) will learn that they’re not good candidates for […]
Even casual readers expect more than broad claims about screening tests. Where’s the data?
A new blood test “substantially reduces” the need for biopsy, but by how much really? Benefit data are given only in relative terms in this news release.
Study: New blood test is more accurate in predicting prostate cancer risk than PSA
WHO exposes deceptive promotion of industry-supported FRAX osteoporosis screening tool
When the World Health Organization (WHO) speaks people usually listen. As the planet’s premier health policy-making body, the WHO influences healthcare and medical practice around the globe. Their expert committees create reports that underpin guidelines, affecting the health care delivered by practitioners on every continent. When the WHO issues a particularly controversial statement, you’d think […]
1
Prostate Week continues: Yale Cancer Center also flouting evidence with public prostate screening event
It’s been a big week for prostate screening news and we’re not finished yet. We fact-checked Donald Trump’s health sit-down with Dr. Oz and explored the misleading messages it produced about prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing. We looked at coverage of a new clinical trial showing that active monitoring in screen-detected early prostate cancer produces outcomes […]
2
Despite thumbs down from professional groups, mass prostate cancer screening events continue, often with misleading promotions
Joy Victory is deputy managing editor of HealthNewsReview.org. She tweets as @thejoyvictory. [Editor’s note: Please see the comments section for a response from Roswell Park Cancer Institute and our reply.] It’s hard to know what’s motivating the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, N.Y., to hold a prostate cancer screening event later this month, but we know […]
Release on prostate cancer screening stokes fears
Do targeted biopsies ultimately lead to fewer deaths as claimed in the release? Years of prostate cancer research hasn’t borne that out.
Increasing the Odds of Prostate Cancer Detection
5-Star Friday: Smarter PSA testing, science’s Lake Wobegon effect, lifesaving coffee, and more
In what will be our last 5-Star Friday celebrating quality journalism in 2015, we take a look back at recently reviewed stories and news releases that have set a high standard for excellence and earned 5-star ratings from our reviewers. This HealthDay story, “Breast-feeding linked to reduced risk of preemie eye problem,” by Kathleen Doheny, is […]
1
Birds, hares, and tortoises: What do they have to do with the recent news on cancer screening?
The following guest post is by Richard Hoffman, MD, Director of the Division of General Internal Medicine at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine/Iowa City VA Medical Center. Richard is a long-time story reviewer and frequent contributor to the blog. Wouldn’t it be great if, in 2016 and in the future, we saw more […]
1
A patient’s perspective on recent prostate cancer screening news
The following guest post is by Joshua Schneck, a healthcare marketer, patient advocate, journalist and avid cyclist. He is founder and CEO of Snow Communications, a PR and marketing agency that specializes in healthcare. He has written for The New York Times, The Minneapolis Star Tribune, Radio Sweden and other news organizations. The number of […]
Unbalanced news release claims “more men at risk” due to less frequent PSA testing
This news release seems imbalanced to us — it downplays the benefits and emphasizes the potential harms of guidelines that advocate less frequent screening.
More men at risk for prostate cancer as a result of less regular screening
Is it time to digitally re-examine the PSA test?
The following is a guest blog post by Alan Cassels. A urologist got an opinion piece, “Bring Back Prostate Screening,” published in the New York Times last week. The author writes: “men should not wait for a government agency to tell them what’s best. My own strongest recommendation is that men insist on a baseline PSA test while […]
