USPSTF Recommends Against PSA for Prostate Cancer Screening

Wow!  If you want to start an argument in polite company, add PSA (prostate specific antigen) screening for prostate cancer to the list of topics (politics & religion) not to be discussed in polite company.  And if you want to make yourself unpopular, advocate against PSA screening for prostate cancer as the US Preventive Services Task Force did online yesterday prior to print in July in the Annals of Internal Medicine.  

I don't know where you stand on the topic but I suspect that it's colored by whether you're a generalist or a specialist, and whether you've been affected in some manner or not.  Not to paint with too broad a brush stroke, but generalists and those who haven't been affected tend to advocate against screening for prostate cancer w/PSA while specialists and those who've been touched tend to recommend mass screening.

What I find most fascinating is that both sides are looking at the same evidence & statistical analysis, which theoretically should be immutable, yet clearly (?) differs depending upon your perspective.  It's also interesting to note that public commentary regarding the draft version published last fall was incorporated into this guideline.

This reminds me of the blind men and the elephant as well as the conundrum asking whether the glass is half full or half empty.  For now, the recommend is out & in print.  Might I suggest that you take a look at the two editorials and their different perspectives, and then arrive at your own conclusion.  I'm willing to bet that your stance will fall into one of the two aforementioned responses.

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