Subject: Medical group to say men don't need prostate cancer screenings, source says - CNN.com
From: "Eric Schwerin" <[email-masked]>
To: "Hunter Biden" <[email-masked]>, "Rob Walker" <[email-masked]>, "Michael Muldoon" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 6 Oct 2011 15:40:25 -0400

http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/06/health/prostate-screening/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29&utm_content=My+Yahoo

Medical group to say men don't need prostate cancer screenings, source says

(CNN) -- The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, the group that told women in their 40s that they don't need mammograms, will soon recommend that men not get screened for prostate cancer, according to a source privy to the task force deliberations.

The task force is set to recommend a "D" rating for prostate specific antigen, or PSA, testing. Such a rating means "there is moderate or high certainty that the service has no net benefit or that the harms outweigh the benefits," according to the group's website. The task force is set to propose this recommendation Tuesday, and then allow for a comment period before issuing a final recommendation.

According to a draft copy of a report scheduled to be released Monday, a review of studies shows screening with the PSA blood test results in "small or no reduction" in prostate cancer deaths.

The report adds that PSA testing is "associated with harms related to subsequent evaluation and treatments."

The PSA test can help determine if a man has prostate cancer. It is sometimes accompanied by a digital rectal exam.

CNN's Jennifer Bixler and Aaron Cooper contributed to this report.

Eric D. Schwerin
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