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Should mass screening for prostate cancer be introduced at the national level?

Should mass screening for prostate cancer be introduced at the national level?
Should mass screening for prostate cancer be introduced at the national level?
The issue
Prostate cancer is a major cause of death among men, with over 56,000 deaths in the European Unionin 1998. There are no obvious preventive strategies, therefore screening has been considered to reduce the number of deaths. Opportunistic screening is widely carried out but there are no known national programmes to screen for prostate cancer.
Findings
There are no completed randomized screening trials, although two are underway. Evidence from non-randomized studies suggests possible benefit, but these results may not be reliable due to bias or alternative explanations. The main areas of uncertainty are the natural history of the disease, which appears relatively benign in many cases, and appropriate treatment for positive screened cases.
Policy considerations
Mass screening should not be introduced at the national level, unless supportive evidence is available from the ongoing screening or treatment trials.
prostatic neoplasms, mass screening, national health programs, health policy, decision support techniques
World Health Organization
Davidson, P.
7898fc6b-bec8-4c1e-9c4f-6eee6f781328
Gabbay, J.
d779b76c-febe-461b-b3bb-e110163f114a
Davidson, P.
7898fc6b-bec8-4c1e-9c4f-6eee6f781328
Gabbay, J.
d779b76c-febe-461b-b3bb-e110163f114a

Davidson, P. and Gabbay, J. (2004) Should mass screening for prostate cancer be introduced at the national level? (Health Evidence Network (HEN) Synthesis Report) Copenhagen, Denmark. World Health Organization

Record type: Monograph (Project Report)

Abstract

The issue
Prostate cancer is a major cause of death among men, with over 56,000 deaths in the European Unionin 1998. There are no obvious preventive strategies, therefore screening has been considered to reduce the number of deaths. Opportunistic screening is widely carried out but there are no known national programmes to screen for prostate cancer.
Findings
There are no completed randomized screening trials, although two are underway. Evidence from non-randomized studies suggests possible benefit, but these results may not be reliable due to bias or alternative explanations. The main areas of uncertainty are the natural history of the disease, which appears relatively benign in many cases, and appropriate treatment for positive screened cases.
Policy considerations
Mass screening should not be introduced at the national level, unless supportive evidence is available from the ongoing screening or treatment trials.

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More information

Published date: May 2004
Keywords: prostatic neoplasms, mass screening, national health programs, health policy, decision support techniques

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 61752
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/61752
PURE UUID: 9e6594e6-140d-4438-8c8a-9ed20bdab2ad

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 12 Sep 2008
Last modified: 09 Jan 2024 17:39

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Contributors

Author: P. Davidson
Author: J. Gabbay

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