Study Suggests No Real Benefit From Routine Prostate Cancer Screenings

June 29, 2009 6:03 a.m. EST

Washington,DC (AHN) - U.S. cancer researchers say there really is no benefit from routine prostate cancer screenings.

The American Cancer Society and researchers at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio analyzed the results of two recently released trials to establish their conclusion.

They said in their report published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, that for cancer screenings to be considered effective, they must reduce the risk of death, reduce suffering from a disease or reduce health-care costs, compared to not screening.

The researchers say prostate cancer screening does not meet any of the criteria.

Prostate cancer affects about one in six American men during their lifetime, but no major medical group, including the American Cancer Society, recommends routine screenings for the disease, according to an American Cancer Society press release.