Millions of men can skip yearly prostate cancer blood test
Published 9:00 pm Monday, May 20, 2002
Herald news services
ORLANDO, Fla. — A common blood-scanning test for prostate cancer, an annual medical ritual for millions of older men, can safely be done less frequently for the majority who have low readings, a major study concludes.
The federally funded study concludes the risk is so low for these men that checking once every two years, or even every five years, is enough to find cancer in time.
About half of all men over age 50 now get a regular PSA test, which scans the blood for a protein that goes up as prostate cancer develops.
Researchers said that if their new guidelines are followed, the less-frequent testing would cut the number of PSA tests each year in half, saving between $500 million and $1 billion.
Doctors generally recommend further testing if men’s PSA levels rise above 4 nanograms per milliliter of blood. The new study concludes: If a man’s initial PSA reading is between zero and 1, he can wait five years before having another test; if the reading is between 1 and 2, he can wait two years before another test; and those whose readings are between 2 and 4 should continue to have annual tests.
In other health news Monday:
The genes, called BRCA, increase the risk of both breast and ovarian cancer. Doctors often recommend that women with the genes have their ovaries taken out when they reach their 40s, and many also opt to have their breasts removed, too.
The new research raises the possibility that ovary removal alone may be a reasonable option for avoiding both kinds of cancer.
Women with the BRCA genes are estimated to have between a 50 percent and 85 percent lifetime risk of breast cancer and between a 10 percent and 40 percent risk of ovarian cancer.
Asking all patients who walk into offices for tests, physicals and appointments just two simple questions about whether they have experienced some of the warning signs of depression can swiftly begin to identify 90 percent of people who suffer from major depression, according to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.
Some 19 million American adults suffer from depression, and estimates suggest that as many as two thirds do not get treatment.
