Prostate tests over diagnose cancer, study finds

WASHINGTON (AP) - There is more evidence that for one cancer,
extensive treatment after early detection is not necessarily a good
thing.

A study carried out by researchers in the Netherlands and released by the Journal of the American Cancer Institute concludes that prostate cancer is being over diagnosed. As many as four out of every 10 tumors caught by the standard PSA screening test are so slow growing that they would never pose a problem for the patients.

The dilemma for the men and their doctors is: do they undertake surgery and other treatments that can have troubling side effects,
including impotence? Or do they do nothing, letting nature take its
course?

Massachusetts General Hospital's Dr. Michael Barry says the bottom line is, "If we diagnose this disease are we making your life better?''

Researchers are furiously working on new tests they hope will
eventually answer that question for each patient.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)