ABC
October 27, 2012,
A group representing Australian general practitioners says the risks
of being screened for prostate cancer outweigh the benefits.
In
its latest book of preventative health guidelines, the Royal Australian
College for GPs advises its members not to recommend prostate cancer
screening to patients.
Professor Chris Del Mar from Bond University on the Gold Coast says the process is invasive and can lead to health problems.
"To
find out whether you've got it involves an involved diagnostic
procedures, a biopsy done through the rectum into the prostate,"
Professor Del Mar said.
While there's a 50 per cent chance men
over the age of 60 will have the disease, Professor Del Mar says
prostate cancer is entirely benign in most cases.
Professor Del Mar says if he had the disease, he would not want to know.
"The chances are - still - that it won't ever shorten my life," he said.
He says patients who are tested often develop serious infections, erectile dysfunction and urinary incontinence.
Professor Del Mar says he is concerned about public awareness campaigns encouraging men to be screened for prostate cancer.
"There's a lot of confusion in the minds of GPs and the general public," he said.
"Screening for prostate cancer ends up doing more harm than good."
The college has always opposed screening for prostate cancer and says, increasingly, medical literature supports its position.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/latest/a/-/latest/15231774/prostate-cancer-tests-more-harm-than-good/
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