Is it time to stop PSA testing? … and other research

Back to the drawing board on prostate cancer screeningProstate cancer screening is currently based on prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing followed by a detailed multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) if the PSA is raised. But we know that PSA testing misses some cancers and throws up lots of false alarms, so is it time to ditch it?This decision model analysis used lifetime data from US men aged over 55 years with no prior screening or diagnosis of prostate cancer to compare biennial PSA testing (with or without second-line mpMRI if PSA >4 µg/L) with biparametric MRI (bpMRI) as a screening test (with MRI guided biopsy or ultrasound as a secondary test). Biparametric MRI is quicker than mpMRI and doesn’t involve an injection of dye which some people react badly to.Compared with PSA testing, bpMRI prevented 2-3 deaths from prostate cancer and added 4-11 days of life. The disadvantage of bpMRI was…
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