archive

June 10, 2013 Replacing some dietary carbohydrates with vegetable fats may help keep prostate cancer from spreading. That's the word from a study of more than 4,500 men that looked at the effects of dietary changes after their initial diagnosis.

Summary

May 3, 2013 The American Urological Association released new guidelines that, if they're heeded, would dramatically reduce the ranks of men who would be candidates for PSA testing. The prostate-specific antigen test can catch cancer early, but it frequently gives false alarms.

Summary

February 5, 2013 Testing for prostate cancer may not get any less confusing anytime soon. But researchers say the much-maligned PSA screening test is worthwhile if it's used for the right men at the right time.

Summary

October 29, 2012 Proton therapy can be targeted much more precisely than regular radiation. The hope is that it translates into far fewer side effects, such as impotence and incontinence. But it also costs twice as much as regular radiation. And there's no proof it's more effective — it could potentially be worse, say some radiation experts.

Transcript

On Morning EditionPlaylist

September 6, 2012 There are conflicting guidelines on when women should get mammograms and mounting questions on when the PSA blood test for prostate cancer is worthwhile. We asked how people are sorting things out.

Summary

July 18, 2012 A study of more than 700 men with prostate cancer found no difference in rates of death among men who had their prostates surgically removed compared to those who didn't. The findings suggest that men with low-risk cancers could forgo surgery.

Summary

May 24, 2012 Johns Hopkins researcher round that nearly three-quarters of primary care doctors they surveyed said their patients expected regular PSA screening to continue. The findings suggest there will be

Summary

May 23, 2012 The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force said the harms, such as false alarms and unnecessary surgeries that leave some men impotent and incontinent, outweigh the benefits of routine PSA blood testing for prostate cancer. But it's far from clear that doctors and their patients will heed the advice.

Summary

May 21, 2012 The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force says the testing doesn't save enough lives to justify the risk of unnecessary surgery and radiation. But one testing supporter says, "If all PSA screening were to stop, there would be thousands of men who would unnecessarily suffer and die from prostate cancer."

Transcript

On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

April 18, 2012 Billionaire Warren Buffett was tested for prostate cancer at an age when most men are not. The evidence suggests that in most cases the harms of treatment of prostate cancer in elderly men outweigh its benefits.

Summary

April 3, 2012 Norwegian scientists say as many as 1 in every 4 cases of breast cancer doesn't need to be found because it would never have caused symptoms or death. They also question a fundamental justification of mammography: that it finds more cancers when they're early and more curable.

Summary

October 26, 2011 Confused about the fuss over PSA screening for prostate cancer? A commentary in the New England Journal of medicine says there's a middle ground between business-as-usual and throwing PSA tests out altogether.

Summary