Can J Urol
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Review Comparative Study
Detection of prostate cancer: the impact of the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC).
The European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC) is a large, randomized controlled trial of screening versus control, conducted in eight European countries (Belgium, Finland, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland). This article focuses on important aspects relating to recent findings from the ERSPC about two topics: first, leadtime and overdiagnosis, and second, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) as a test for repeated screening. The ERSPC together with the prostate cancer arm of the Prostate, Lung, Colon and Ovary (PLCO) screening trial of the National Cancer Institute in the United States are set to show or exclude an effect of screening on prostate cancer mortality. ⋯ This may be compatible with the observation that tumor volumes in second round screening are smaller, and larger tumors are harvested. Tumor volume becomes a negative predictor in round 2, indicating that a large proportion of elevated PSA values are caused by benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) rather than by prostate cancer. While the outcome of the ongoing randomized studies is uncertain, screening tests cannot be refused to men who are well-informed and accept to take the risk of experiencing more harm than benefit as a result of a positive screening test result.
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Biochemical parameters and pathological features as well as biopsy related morbidity of prostate cancer detected on second, third and fourth repeat prostate biopsy in men with a serum total PSA level between 4 ng/mL and 10 ng/mL were evaluated and compared to those cancers detected on initial prostate biopsy. In a prospective European Prostate Cancer Detection study, 1051 men with a total PSA level between 4 ng/mL and 10 ng/mL underwent transrectal ultrasound (TRUS)-guided sextant biopsy and two additional transition zone biopsies. All subjects whose biopsy samples were negative for prostate cancer (CaP) underwent a first repeat biopsy after 6 weeks. ⋯ Hence, a second prostate biopsy in all cases of a negative finding on initial biopsy appears justified. Third and fourth repeat biopsies however, should only be obtained in very selected patients with high suspicion of cancer and/or poor prognostic factors on the first or second biopsy. Power Doppler TRUS will further enhance prostate cancer detection as will artificial neural networks as patient selecting tools.