Study emphasizes value of giving annual PSA tests

Although the tests can result in more questions than answers, they still have an important role in cancer detection and treatment, according to some experts.

By Susan J. Landers, AMNews staff. Nov. 21, 2005.

Washington -- A new study provides evidence that annual prostate-specific antigen screenings are a worthwhile enterprise, although the finding is unlikely to settle the controversy surrounding the test's value as a diagnostic tool.

The study, presented Oct. 19 at the annual meeting of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology, showed that annual PSA blood tests discover prostate cancer at a more curable time and could lower prostate cancer death, said lead author Jason Efstathiou, MD, a resident at the Harvard Radiation Oncology Program in Boston. Among the 1,492 men followed from 1988 to 2002, those who had an annual PSA test were three times less likely to die from prostate cancer than those who didn't have the test annually.

Although it's a simple blood test, PSA screening inspires complicated conversations between physicians and their male patients over what test results actually mean. While this study could tip the balance toward the value of annual PSA tests, it does not provide a definitive answer, Dr. Efstathiou said. "The jury is still out."

In this case, the jury consists of large randomized trials now under way to assess the predictive power of the tests. Data are not expected for at least three years. "The value of our study is that it may give us some indication or clues as to what those large studies will show," Dr. Efstathiou said.