Infanta Cristina University Hospital, Madrid
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Head of the Urology Unit at the Infanta Cristina Hospital, researcher in the Spanish branch of the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer
A study has analyzed data on prostate cancer incidence and mortality in 26 countries in Europe between 1980 and 2020. Its findings are that new diagnoses have increased due to the widespread use of PSA [prostate-specific antigen] testing, but mortality rates have not benefited in parallel. This suggests possible overdiagnosis, i.e., the detection of harmless tumors that are unlikely to cause symptoms or death in the patient's lifetime. The results are published in the journal The BMJ.
Most high-income countries do not have prostate cancer screening programmes for their entire population; prostate-specific antigen (PSA) tests can be done on an individual basis. In an opinion piece published in The BMJ, a group of urologists and epidemiologists specialised in prostate cancer screening argue for restricting the use of PSA tests to avoid over-detection and over-treatment.