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Regular PSA testing may result in improved quality of life for men who develop prostate cancer

Category: Prostate

Improvements in prostate cancer treatments have resulted in significantly better survival rates for the disease. However, the findings of a new study suggest that men affected by prostate who received regular PSA testing earlier in lives had a better quality of life following treatment.

Prostate cancer can be treated relatively easily when it is diagnosed in its early stages. However, if it goes undiagnosed, it can spread to other areas of the body (called metastasis), causing greater disruption to men's lives.

For the study, a team of researchers from Cleveland Clinic examined the medical records of 1,721 men who were treated for prostate cancer between 1986 and 1996. They divided the men into groups based on the regularity of their pre-diagnosis PSA testing. They found that men who received more regular testing had lower rates of metastasis after 10 years.

"Our study shows that routine screening not only improves the patient's quality of life by stopping metastatic disease, but it also decreases the burden of care for this advanced disease that must be provided by the health care system," said Chandana Reddy, who led the study.