Experts Criticize Report on Rising Prostate Cancer

Experts Criticize Report on Rising Prostate Cancer

American Cancer Society says methodology used for recent study was flawed

WebMD News from HealthDay

By Steven Reinberg

HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, July 21, 2016 (HealthDay News) -- A headline-grabbing report earlier this week claimed that new cases of advanced prostate cancer in the United States had skyrocketed 72 percent in the past decade.

And the study authors from Northwestern University suggested the increase might be tied to a 2012 recommendation that men not be screened for prostate cancer by using the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test. PSA, a protein produced by cells of the prostate gland, is often elevated in men with prostate cancer. However, the validity and usefulness of the PSA test has been debated for years.

But on Wednesday, the American Cancer Society challenged the validity of the Northwestern researchers' findings.

Dr. Otis Brawley, the society's chief medical officer, said the methodology used by the Northwestern researchers was flawed, thereby making the study's conclusions flawed.

"This study makes a dramatic claim about an issue all of us have been watching eagerly: namely, whether less PSA screening might lead to more advanced cancers. But the current analysis is far from adequate to answer that question sufficiently," Brawley said in a news release.

According to Brawley, the usual way such studies are done is to look at the rate of cases. "But this study, done by a group of urologists, didn't do that. Rather than measure rates of metastatic disease, they looked at the number of cases. That is far from the same thing," he explained.

Brawley added that "you can't simply look at raw numbers. A rising number of cases can be due simply to a growing and aging population among other factors."

In addition, the increase in advanced prostate cancer cases began before the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force 2012 recommendation that men not be screened using the PSA test.

"There may or may not be a rise in the rates of metastatic disease; but because of a flawed analysis, this study does not answer that important question," Brawley said.

The study in question was published July 19 in the journal Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases. It said the biggest increase in prostate cancer diagnoses was among men aged 55 to 69, with a 92 percent jump seen over 10 years.

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