In re-analysis, screening conferred 7 to 9 percent reduction in risk in ERSPC and PLCO trials
TUESDAY, Sept. 5, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Re-analysis of evidence suggests that screening does reduce prostate cancer mortality, according to a study published online Sept. 4 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Alex Tsodikov, Ph.D., from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and colleagues examined whether the effects of screening versus no screening on prostate cancer mortality differed between the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC) and the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial (PLCO). Mean lead times (MLTs) were estimated to account for increased incidence due to screening and diagnostic work-up in each group.
The researchers found that the estimated MLTs were similar in the intervention groups in the ERSPC and PLCO but longer in the PLCO than the ERSPC control group. In extended analyses there was no evidence of different effects of screening between the trials (P = 0.37 to 0.47); strong evidence showed increased benefit with MLT (P = 0.0027 to 0.0032). Per year of MLT, screening was estimated to confer a 7 to 9 percent reduction in the risk of prostate cancer death, translating into estimates of 25 to 31 percent and 27 to 32 percent lower risk for prostate cancer death for screening in the ERSPC and PLCO intervention groups, respectively, versus no screening.
“After differences in implementation and settings are accounted for, the ERSPC and PLCO provide compatible evidence that screening reduces prostate cancer mortality,” the authors write.
Several authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical and medical device industries.
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