cancer of the prostate

"Numerous media reports followed a federal task force's announcement this month that there is insufficient medical evidence to assess the risks and benefits of prostate cancer screening in men younger than 75 and that doctors should stop testing men over age 75.
It's important to note that consideration was not given to the overwhelming body of emerging evidence that screening with PSA tests and digital rectal exams saves lives. Rates of death from prostate cancer and rates of diagnosis at advanced stages have decreased markedly since testing became widespread.
As a physician and a researcher specializing in prostate cancer, I worry that this recommendation will result in delays in potentially lifesaving treatment and possibly the unnecessary loss of life.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force did not even recommend screening for men at higher risk because of race or family history. The task force reasoned that screening might harm more men than it helps and that in men over 75 there was moderate certainty that the harm outweighs the benefits.
Physicians and patients who are concerned about preventing prostate cancer deaths choose to screen with prostate-specific antigen (PSA) tests because an inconclusive but increasingly compelling body of evidence shows that the screening reduces suffering and death from prostate cancer — the second-leading cause of cancer death among men in the United States."