Over-Diagnosis in PSA Screening

Analysis from the American National Cancer Institute suggests that over 1 million men were incorrectly diagnosed via PSA for prostate cancer and underwent radiation and surgery unnecessarily between 1987 and 2005. The Chief Medical Officer of the American Cancer Society suggests to simply monitor increasing levels of PSA before jumping into radical medical intervention as this is unacceptable given the long term side effects of such therapy. This is where herbal medicines can certainly play a strategic intervening role. To read more, Welch HG and Albertsen PC. Prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment after the introduction of prostate-specific antigen screening: 1986-2005. J Natl Cancer Inst 2009 Aug 31; [e-pub ahead of print]. (http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jnci/djp278); Brawley OW. Prostate cancer screening: Is this a teachable moment? J Natl Cancer Inst 2009 Aug 31; [e-pub ahead of print]. (http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jnci/djp310)