Prostate Cancer Tests: The Latest

Family Health, Featured Article, Healthy Living
on May 31, 2013
What's new with prostate cancer.
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Two major medical groups are backing away from prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening tests. Both the American College of Physicians (ACP) and the American Urological Association (AUA) now say most men under 50 and over 69 should skip them. The AUA recommends that only men 55-69 consider the screening, no more than every two years, and only after consulting with their doctors, as the benefits may not be worth risks like incontinence.

If forgoing the test sounds scary, it needn’t be, says Dr. Jay Cohen, author of Prostate Cancer Breakthroughs, who was diagnosed with the disease in 2011. An elevated PSA does not mean you have cancer and shouldn’t automatically trigger a biopsy. Even when prostate cancer is detected, “most men don’t require such radical interventions, yet most of them end up getting surgery or radiation anyway.”

Dr. Cohen shares his 11-step prostate cancer prevention plan with Better than Before blogger Jane Wilkens Michael at her Better Than Before blog.