September 17, 2020
Each September, during Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, we are reminded of the widespread impact of this disease. The American Cancer Society estimates that this year alone more than 190,00 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer and about 33,000 will die from the disease.
In raising awareness about prostate cancer, news stories often emphasize the benefits of cancer screening. But there are risks associated with screening that men must also take into account. Why? Prostate cancer screening can result in what researchers call “overdiagnosis” — treating cancers that would never have caused serious medical problems.
In this new episode of KP Research Radio, we talk about the potential risks and benefits of prostate cancer screening with Joseph Presti, MD, an adjunct researcher at the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research and the regional leader of Urologic Oncology Surgery for The Permanente Medical Group.
You can learn more about Dr. Presti and his research in these news stories:
Kaiser Permanente Researchers develop new prostate cancer risk calculator
More metastatic prostate cancers found after change in screening guidelines
This story originally appeared in Division of Research Spotlight
