Division of Urology, Barretos Cancer Hospital, São Paulo, Brazil.
Graduate Program, University of São Paulo, Barretos Cancer Hospital, São Paulo, Brazil.
Data regarding prostate cancer screening in Brazil are limited. We compared features of prostate cancers detected through screening versus those referred for treatment in Brazil.
Group I included 500 of 13,754 men whose cancers were detected through screening, and Group II included 2731 men referred for treatment through the habitual public health system. We used Mann-Whitney and χ(2) tests to compare clinical and pathologic findings, considering significant any P < 0.05.
Median prostate-specific antigen (PSA) was lower among screened patients (5.5 ng/mL versus 10.0 ng/mL; P < 0.001). Of the screened patients, 170 (34%) had biopsy Gleason score ≥ 7, compared with 1265 (46.3%) in the referred group (P < 0.001). Lymph node metastases were suspected in 8.6% of the referred versus 3.2% of the screened men (P = 0.002). Distant metastases were more common in the referred men (9.3% vs. 3.0%; P < 0.001). Only 6.0% of the screened cancers were locally advanced at diagnosis (T3 or T4) versus 26.5% of the referred (P < 0.001). Screened patients had a higher proportion of localized tumors after surgery (67.7% vs. 54.2%; P = 0.002). Pathology Gleason scores were also lower among screened men (P < 0.01). Lymphadenectomies were performed in 166/636 men (26.1%). No nodal metastases were found in screened cancers (0/28; 0.0%), while 6/138 referred cancers (4.3%) presented nodal involvement (P = 0.3).
Clinical and pathologic characteristics of screen-detected cancers are more favorable than those of tumors diagnosed through the Brazilian health system.
Written by:
Faria EF, Carvalhal GF, Vieira RA, Silva TB, Mauad EC, Tobias-Machado M, Carvalho AL. Are you the author?
Reference: Clin Genitourin Cancer. 2011 Aug 13. Epub ahead of print.
doi: 10.1016/j.clgc.2011.06.004
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 21843976
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