Why is there no screening programme?

30 April 2010

As many of you will know, this is a very common concern for people affected by prostate cancer.

The short answer is that it's widely believed that the available tests (i.e. the PSA test, digital rectal examination) are not reliable enough to act as screening tools.  Sometimes, you see this described in terms such as "there isn't enough convincing evidence to prove that introducing a screening programme would save lives"

Not only do the tests produce a lot of false positives and false negatives, but they also cannot distinguish between cases of prostate cancer that are life-threatening and cases that are not.

There is a lot of information available on the internet;  the following links will help you to find out more information:

If you are concerned about prostate cancer tests, you should discuss it with your doctor.


Page last edited: 02 October 2011