Routine PSA:Evaluating the Evidence
Sheldon Greenfield, MDHealth Policy Research InstituteUniversity of California, Irvine
October 23, 2012
Management of Intellectual Conflict of Interest
“Academic activities that create the potential for an attachment to a specific point of view that could unduly affect an individual’s judgment about a specific recommendation”
- Clinical Practice Guidelines We Can Trust Institute of Medicine, 2011
“Conclusions: Analyses after 2 additional years of follow-up consolidated our previous finding that PSA-based screening significantly reduced mortality from prostate cancer but did not affect all-cause mortality.”
Why Doesn’t ScreeningWork Better?
• Co-morbidity (life expectancy)• Lead time bias • Over diagnosis bias (no progression
over time)
Clinical Policy Options
1. No routine PSA screening2. Screen all over 50 or 55• Biopsy only those with PSA> 10 • Active surveillance for those with high
levels of comorbidity (decreased 10 year life expectancy)
• Treatment only by high quality urologists
Clinical Policy Options (cont’)
3. Screen all those with high life expectancy4. Leave it to the patient and the doctor to
decide (USPSTF Level C)