February 10, 2008

The overdiagnosis & overtreatment of prostate cancer

The New York Times this week had a column on "a troubling new report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, which analyzed hundreds of studies in an effort to advise men about the best treatments for prostate cancer. The report compared the effectiveness and risks of eight prostate cancer treatments, ranging from prostate removal to radioactive implants to no treatment at all. None of the studies provided definitive answers. Surprisingly, no single treatment emerged as superior to doing nothing at all."

Read the full study.

An AHRQ news release said, “Considerable overdetection and overtreatment may exist."

Posted by schwitz at February 10, 2008 10:51 AM | TrackBack
Comments
The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the page author. The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by the University of Minnesota.