Testing will pick up the disease, but doesn’t affect overall death rates
According to a new study, routine prostate cancer screening doesn’t help people live longer, Reuters reports. The analysis, published in the journal BMJ, looked at the best available data on a topic that has been controversial, as several medical associations discourage screening in men 75 or older, but say there isn’t enough evidence to make widespread recommendations for younger men. Many doctors continue to test for the disease. According to this study, screening will pick up 20 cases for every 1,000 men screened, but the practice doesn’t change overall death rates or the odds that men would die from prostate cancers.