What are the flaws in the New England Journal of Medicine PSA testing studies?
There are numerous flaws and biases in the two PSA testing studies, which could have skewed the data and conclusion significantly: • As aforementioned, both studies need to be extended for at least 10 more years to take into account the slow-growing nature of prostate cancer and to yield 10 years of treatment data. This is based on using the strictest definition of the cure of prostate cancer, which is a PSA of 0.2 ng/ml for 10 years. • Also cited above, the studies inadequately represent African Americans, who are at high risk for developing and dying from prostate cancer. • Another problem is “contamination” in the unscreened control group. As it would have been unethical to tell men in the control group that they could not be screened for prostate cancer, an estimated 38 to 52 percent either sought a PSA test or were offered it by their doctors. Also, 85 percent in the screened group were actually screened according to the protocol. This means that the study compares the difference
