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by LorenPechtel 1021 days ago
No, because we might be replacing one cause with another.

That's what they've found with PSA--it kills (via treating things that wouldn't actually have killed the patient) as many as it saves.
1 comments
kazinator 1021 days ago
> That's what they've found with PSA--it kills (via treating things ...)

I'm not sure what PSA you're referring to. The Prostate-Specific Antigen PSA is something secreted by the body, and not a treatment, so it can't be that one.

Are you referring to overdiagnosis (via PSA or any other screening), resulting in overtreatment?

link
LorenPechtel 1021 days ago
PSA is also commonly used to refer to the test that measures the PSA level.

And, yes, it's treatment of things that weren't actually going to kill the patient. It's been known for quite a while that doing the test for screening produces no increase in life expectancy.

What this study is saying is that the same problem seems to apply to most other cancer screenings.

link