Prostate Cancer Study by Veterans Affairs Confuses Men, National Prostate Group Says; New Biomarker Needed for Prostate Cancer - but PSA Saves Lives Now

Jan 11, 2006/ WASHINGTON, D.C./ A Veterans' Affairs scientists' claim that the Prostate Specific Antigen blood test is "not effective" in saving lives is baseless, because a recent study of 1,000 veterans with prostate cancer does not take needed facts into consideration, National Prostate Cancer Coalition's CEO Rchard Atkins M. D. said January 9 after reading the study.

"You need to look at what kind of treatments these men went through and change in PSA velocity over time," Atkins said. "We're not examining genetically-engineered mice where you have roughly the same DNA blueprint. These are men and every man reacts differently to different treatments."

The VA study is based on "case-control" matched analysis of medical records of 1,000 veterans at various VA hospitals across New England. Half of the men had died from prostate cancer in the 1990s and the other half, matched for age and for VA at which they received treatment, were alive at the time their matched man died.

The PSA test had been approved by the F.D.A. in 1986 and was available to men treated at VA hopsitals although not widely offered. About the same numbers of men in both groups (14% in one group, 13% in the other) had been screened for the disease at some time before 1991. This study concludes that since men who died of prostate cancer had no less screening than those who did not die of prostate cancer, screening has no effect on prostate cancer survival.

"We need a better biomarker for prostate cancer no doubt about it," Atkins says. "It will take research to find it. But in the meantime, we need to use the PSA test with appropriate follow up measures to diagnose prostate cancer," he said. "It's unfortunate that these studies confuse men about screening, it's difficult enough only about half of all men over 50 get screened for prostate cancer."

The National Prostate Cancer Coalition sides with American Cancer Society facts that early detection of prostate cancer leads to 99.7 percent survival rate of at least five years. Despite the need for research to discover a biomarker, the federal investment in prostate cancer research has effectively been cut across the board.

"The PSA test is like the pap smear," Atkins said, "it will have false positives and false negatives but it still saves. But we're not telling women not to take that test. Know the facts, it's not a fool proof test but do get tested it could save your life. It's saved the life for countless men the world over."

About the National Prostate Cancer Coalition

The National Prostate Cancer Coalition sets the standard for rapidly reducing the burden of prostate cancer on American men and their families through awareness, outreach and advocacy.

John Concato, M.D., M.P.H., from the Veterans Affairs (VA) Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, and Yale University, New Haven, and colleagues conducted this study to find out whether screening for prostate cancer with prostate specific antigen (PSA) blood test improved the chances of survival for men in the 1990s.

About the same numbers of men treated at the VA for other conditions -- men who did not die of prostate cancer -- also were screened for the disease. Since these men did not die of the disease yet were no more likely to have been screened for it, this study concludes that screening has no effect on prostate cancer survival.