New IARC study highlights that the recent large increases in prostate cancer incidence in Europe are probably driven by PSA testing

A new study, published today in The BMJ, suggests that significant overdiagnosis of prostate cancer in Europe is due to the highly variable patterns of opportunistic testing with a blood test that measures the amount of prostate-specific antigen (PSA). The study focuses on the epidemiological characteristics of prostate cancer in Europe, and in particular the contrast between the large heterogeneity of the trends in incidence of prostate cancer and the more uniform decrease in mortality from prostate cancer. Overdiagnosis is the diagnosis of a tumour that would not otherwise progress to cause symptoms or death in an individual’s lifetime.

Vaccarella S, Li M, Bray F, Kvale R, Serraino D, Lorenzoni V, et al.
Prostate cancer incidence and mortality in Europe and implications for screening activities: population based study
BMJ. Published online 4 September 2024;
https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2023-077738

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