It sounds tempting: the early detection of prostate cancer for all men. Scientists from the Institute for quality and efficiency in health care (IQWiG) found in the evaluation of the Study is that the PSA Test would have a number of over-diagnosis and unnecessary interventions result in unpleasant complications.

For certain patients with a specific suspected prostate cancer, the PSA-value is useful, the scientists of the IQWiG. A General Test of all the men you keep, but after evaluation of the study situation is not useful because the PSA Test shows a quarter of false positive results, while he has only rarely a life-prolonging effect.

Many überflüvinegar treatments with complications

In men without suspicion of prostate cancer, the PSA Test often leads to over-diagnosis. Such a diagnosis is not only a mentally very incriminating result, but also results in unnecessary biopsies, and unnecessary treatments that can lead to impotence and incontinence: it is estimated that unnecessarily three out of 1000 men incontinent and 25 of 1000 impotent would.

The proportion of men, which later, in a tissue sample turned out that the PSA Test was a false positive, was between 22 and 26 percent. Two percent of the men suffered after the prostate biopsy, but under complications. Jürgen Windeler, head of IQWiG, therefore comes to the conclusion: "Screening measures can lead to serious damages. Men without prostate cancer is suspected should &hellip therefore, [;] no organised prostate cancer screening will be offered by means of PSA testing."

ZOU