New evidence on prostate health
Prostate health advocates have called on whichever party wins the Federal election to fund a major national campaign encouraging Australian men aged 50 and over to speak to their GP about prostate health testing.
New studies outlined at the “Advancing Quality of Life” prostate cancer conference on the Gold Coast show that using prostate-specific antigen blood tests (PSA) can reduce the prostate cancer death rate by nearly 44%.
These new results are so significant that the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in the USA appears to have reversed previous opposition to PSA tests and cast doubt on the conclusions from previous contrary studies because the data were “contaminated”. In a recent bulletin the NCI said that PSA testing may “substantially improve cancer-specific survival without the extent of over-diagnosis and overtreatment…”
The chief executive officer of the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia (PCFA), Andrew Giles, says this research sheds new light on an issue that has previously caused much confusion. The whole debate has moved forward now.
“In the light of this new evidence, the challenge now is to work out how to fund and frame a new campaign targeting Australian men. This campaign would raise awareness of the benefits of PSA testing and facilitate discussions between Australian men and their GPs,” said Giles.
“As the peak body for prostate cancer prevention and awareness in Australia, PCFA commits significant resources to producing community services announcements on this topic. We launched a major initiative earlier this year with the help of many Australian actors and sporting identities. However, without significant Federal funding it remains difficult to change behaviour.”
“There are 3,300 Australian men dying every year from prostate cancer and we believe better use of PSA testing can help save lives. To do this we need significant Federal assistance,” said Giles.
The Federal Government launched its Australian Male Health Policy with great fanfare in May 2010, but there was no additional funding for a major men’s health campaign about managing prostate cancer risk factors.
Dr Kerry DeVoss, the Pathologist in Charge – Endocrinology at the Queensland Medical Laboratories told delegates that when it came to saving the lives of Australian men by using PSA tests there were definitely ways to get “more bang for the buck from the test information available and from trend information over time.”
