INTRODUCTION: We investigate the effectiveness of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening for prostate cancer.
We compare the characteristics of 2 sets of patients: (1) those in whom prostate cancer was detected via PSA screening (the PS group) and (2) those in whom prostate cancer was detected at the outpatient office (the non-PS group).
METHODS: Between 2002 and 2010, prostate cancer was detected in 315 patients by PSA screening. Their age, initial PSA level, pathological findings in biopsy specimens, clinical stage, and prognosis were compared with those of 497 prostate cancer patients diagnosed at the outpatient office of the Department of Urology, Hiroshima University, in the same period.
RESULTS: The rates of patients with initial PSA higher than 50 ng/mL, with a Gleason score of 8 or higher, and with clinical stage D were significantly lower in the PS group than those in the non-PS group. The 5-year overall survival and cancer-specific survival in the PS group was 91.3% and 98.2%, respectively; these results were significantly better than those in the non-PS group (86.4%, p = 0.0178, and 94.9%, p = 0.0112, respectively). A Cox hazard analysis showed that PSA screening was an independent predictive factor for cancer-specific survival.
CONCLUSIONS: Although our study is limited by its retrospective nature and small size, the present data indicate that prostate cancer detected in the PS group showed earlier stage, lower grade, and better prognosis than in the non-PS group.
Written by:
Teishima J, Maruyama S, Mochizuki H, Oka K, Ikeda K, Goto K, Nagamatsu H, Hieda K, Shoji K, Matsubara A. Are you the author?
Department of Urology, Integrated Health Sciences, Institute of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan; Department of Urology, Hiroshima General Hospital, Hatsukaichi, Japan; Department of Urology, Miyoshi Prefectural Hospital, Miyoshi, Japan.
Reference: Can Urol Assoc J. 2014 May;8(5-6):E327-32.
doi: 10.5489/cuaj.1715
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 24940459
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