Prostate cancer screening: what general practitioners and patients need to know.
Much controversy surrounds the appropriateness of screening for prostate cancer. The individual benefit from screening is unproven. Screening may result in many men being unnecessarily treated for prostate cancer with the associated risks of developing treatment related side effects, including impotence and incontinence. Men requesting screening need to be informed of these issues before they decide whether to proceed. This article reviews the current position in relation to screening, critically appraising current thinking in order to clarify the issues.
Boyden
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Public Health Branch, Dept. of Human Services, Victoria.
D001294:Attitude to Health; D001315:Australia; D005194:Family Practice; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control*