More frequent screening following treatment does not improve long-term patient outcomes
Radiation oncologist Dr. Ron Chen presented the results of a large study of post-treatment care of prostate cancer patients at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago, IL on June 1, 2018.
The study of over 10,000 men treated for prostate cancer between 2005 to 2010 showed that use of the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test every 3 months after treatment – compared to once per year – did not improve the patients’ long-term survival.
While men do need to be screened regularly for return of their cancer after initial treatment, annual monitoring appears to be sufficient. This would not only reduce costs associated with PSA testing, but also help lessen anxiety among patients screened more frequently.
Read more about Dr. Chen’s study HERE.