More prostate screens may not be helpful

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands, Aug. 29 (UPI) -- More frequent prostate cancer screening results in more cancers detected but the number of aggressive prostate cancers was static, a European study found.

Monique Roobol, of Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, and colleagues analyzed data collected at a medical center in Gothenburg, Sweden, where 4,202 men were screened every two years, and in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, where 13,301 men were screened every four years.

Over a period of 10 years, the overall incidence of prostate cancer was higher among men screened every two years at 13.14 percent than among those screened every four years -- at 8.41 percent. However, the total number of aggressive cancers that were diagnosed between screening tests was 31, or 0.74 percent, in Gothenburg and 57, or 0.43 percent, in Rotterdam -- not considered statistically significant.

The findings, published in Journal of the National Cancer Institute, indicate that the two-year screening program didn't reduce the number of aggressive cancers as would be expected.