Recent advice that men over 75 shouldn’t bother with prostate screening contradicts the previous official line, while debate about the blood test for the disease has many men scratching their thinning heads.

Around 2000-3000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer in New Zealand every year, making it the most common cancer for men.

Researchers have recently suggested that men who have less than 10 years to live have nothing to gain from screening, because prostate cancer advances so slowly, and aggressive treatment can greatly reduce quality of life with side effects such as impotence and incontinence.

Meanwhile the debate continues to rage over the blood screening test for prostate cancer (Prostate Specific Antigen or PSA) because of its imprecise nature and the need for result confirmation via biopsy – a ‘mildly unpleasant’ procedure that can’t differentiate between aggressive and slow-growing tumours.

Dr Durado Brooks from the American Cancer Society said to AP that, “There are many doctors who believe staunchly that PSA testing should be done in all men and there are probably an equal number of doctors who believe very much that testing is of limited value.”

There does appear to be some consensus however, that doctors should discuss the harms and benefits of the test with patients – and men under 50 don’t usually need to be tested.

In New Zealand the Ministry of Health is currently developing new guidance for men to assist in their decision whether or not to undergo PSA testing, you can find out more information at the Prostate Cancer Foundation of New Zealand.