Longer Follow-Up from the U.S. Prostate Cancer Screening Trial

In the 2009 report from the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening trial in the U.S., screening with prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing and rectal examination did not lower prostate cancer–specific mortality through 7 to 10 years of follow-up (JW Gen Med Mar 18 2009). However, the long latency between prostate cancer diagnosis and death mandates longer-term follow-up to fully assess the effect of screening on mortality.

PLCO researchers now present findings extending through 13 years for most participants. Numbers of deaths from prostate cancer remain slightly higher in the screening group than in the control group (158 vs. 145 deaths among 38,000 men in each group). This absence of benefit was noted regardless …