I’m about to make an appointment for my yearly physical. This year is especially important because I just turned 50. I could not help but to notice about new guidelines that were issued last week on prostate cancer screenings that emphasize that physicians should better educate men about both the risks and benefits of using the PSA test for screening. (I got this information from the LA Times)

They also call for cutbacks in the use of digital rectal exams to find tumors and recommend the end of mass prostate screening programs at health fairs and other sites. The revised guidelines issued by the influential American Cancer Society come on the heels of several studies suggesting that large numbers of tumors identified by PSA screening are inconsequential and that biopsies and treatment produce more harm than those tumors would.

Because of such findings, the new guidelines emphasize the importance of physicians explaining both risks and benefits to the patients more fully so that each man can make an informed decision about whether to get tested.

Otis W. Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, said the new guidelines are not that different from earlier ones issued in 1997 and 2001. “I think (earlier panels) meant to say what we are saying now, but they were interpreted by people to say we were encouraging screening,” Dr. Brawley said. “They were trying to encourage informed decision making.”

Skip Lockwood, president of Zero: The Project to End Prostate Cancer, said that calls to end the digital rectal exam are “kind of nuts. … The whole concept that you would do anything to reduce the amount of information you have does not make sense to me.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men after skin cancer, affecting 192,000 men each year and killing 27,000. And while all the parties may not totally agree on how and how often PSA screening should be used, they are in unanimous agreement on one point. As Mr. Lockwood said, “We need a better test.”

After reading this information, I ask myself “What am I going to do?” I think I will ask my doctor. And what about you? I would love to hear from other men out there about what they think or what they plan to do.

Read the full artice: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10063/1040197-84.stm#ixzz0hS7JW9mU