NYT: MPH’s Penson discusses major change in prostate cancer screening guidelines
Older men should talk to their doctors about the pros and cons of prostate cancer screening and make an individual decision that is right for them, an influential national panel of experts has proposed.The panel, the United States Preventive Services Task Force, continues to recommend that men 70 and older forgo screening altogether. But for men 55 to 69, the panel now says, the trade-offs between the potential benefits and harms of screening are too close to call.
“This is a major change in the panel’s position, and it’s a big deal,” said Dr. David F. Penson, a professor and chairman of urologic surgery at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, who was not involved in developing the new proposal.