Overdiagnosis Since Introduction Of Prostate Cancer Screening

The introduction of prostate-antigen screening, or PSA, has resulted in over 1 million additional men over the last 23 years being diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer-most of whom were likely overdiagnosed, researchers reported in a new study published online August 31 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Overdiagnosis has been associated with early diagnosis in prostate cancer, but there have been no previous national estimates of its magnitude. Using data from the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program, H. Gilbert Welch, M.D., MPH, of the White River Junction VA and The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice., and Peter C. Albertsen, M.D., of the Universit...