TORONTO: New recommendations released today by Prostate Cancer Canada (PCC) will empower Canadian males to take a more active role in monitoring their number one cancer risk: prostate cancer. A recent nationwide poll showed that while 87% of Canadian men aged 35+ fear prostate cancer, less than half anticipate being tested in the next 12 months – even though early diagnosis can increase the odds of survival.
“Prostate Cancer Canada recognizes that men need to be better informed about prostate testing, particularly the Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) blood test,” says Dr. Stuart Edmonds, VP, Research, Health Promotion & Survivorship, Prostate Cancer Canada. “To address this confusion, we conducted an extensive review of the evidence and from this developed our primary recommendation: Men should get a baseline PSA test in their 40s instead of waiting until their 50s.”
“PSA levels can vary between individuals so a test in the early 40’s can provide a baseline and allow us to better tailor clinical follow-up,” says Prostate Cancer Canada spokesperson Dr. Rajiv Singal, Urologist at Toronto East General Hospital and Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto. “The PSA is an important marker for a disease in which symptoms are not always present.”
PCC also recommends the decision to end PSA testing should be based on individual risk, rather than an arbitrary cut-off such as age 70. “Men are living longer and their lives should not be cut short or diminished by prostate cancer,” says Dr. Edmonds. “The decision to end testing should be a shared decision determined by a man and his primary care provider.”
“Some men are at increased risk because of ethnicity (Black African or Black Caribbean descent), a family history of prostate cancer, or age,” says Dr. Singal. “Men at high risk should talk to their primary care provider even earlier than their 40s. However, in my 18 years of practice, the majority of aggressive cancers have been found in men with seemingly no risk factors – underscoring the importance of baseline testing.”
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