Preventive Services Update

Oct 26, 2010
The Wall Street Journal Health Blog: "The United States Preventive Services
Task Force has canceled a meeting set for early next month at which the
thorny issue of prostate-cancer screening was due for a vote. ... [W]hen
prostate-cancer screening came up last fall, the USPSTF initially voted to
recommend against screening for men of all ages before opting instead to
re-vote on the issue. . Currently the USPSTF has an 'I' rating for
prostate-cancer screening, which means the current evidence is insufficient
to assess the balance of benefits and harms, for men younger than 75. For
older men, the rating is 'D,' which means the USPSTF recommends against
screening. The group last issued recommendations in August 2008, but in
2009, results from two large screening trials were published. The studies
provided no clear answer of whether the benefits of screening outweighed the
harms" (Hobson, 10/26).

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