Prostate Cancer Research Paper

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death amongst men in the United States. One in six men is estimated to be diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point in their lives. Similar trends are found worldwide to mirror those of the United States. However, the progression of prostate cancer is typically slow and does not metastasize all that often. Due to this, treatments can typically be life saving and prostate cancer deaths have declined ~35% from 1997 to 2007. This can partially be explained by lifestyle changes, hormone therapy, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and surgical treatment; however, large scale screening using prostate specific antigen (PSA) has to account for a substantial impact on the incidence and mortality rates for prostate cancer. …show more content…
Today, along with the DRE, PSA is the most common way physicians diagnose prostate cancer. However, PSA is not 100% accurate in diagnosing prostate cancer. It can be falsely elevated by certain conditions, both benign and malignant types of prostate cancer will elevate the PSA, and some men with prostate cancer will not have an elevated PSA. Even with these negatives the PSA has become the major serum marker for prostate cancer screening. Once an abnormal PSA comes back it is indicated for them to receive a prostate biopsy. So we will review the current guidelines for PSA screening and the current evidence both for and against