A randomized trial of early detection of clinically significant prostate cancer (ProScreen): study design and rationale (original) (raw)
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European Urology, 2013
E U R O P E A N U R O L O G Y X X X ( 2 0 1 3 ) X X X -X X X a v a i l a b l e a t w w w . s c i e n c e d i r e c t . c o m j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w . e u r o p e a n u r o l o g y . c o m Abstract Background: Evidence from randomized trials on the effects of screening for prostate cancer (PCa) on disease-specific mortality accumulates slowly with increasing follow-up. Objective: To assess data on PCa-specific mortality in the Rotterdam section of the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC) trial. Design, setting, and participants: A randomized controlled trial with randomization after signed, written informed consent (efficacy trial). In the period 1993-1999, a total of 42 376 men aged 54-74 yr were randomized to a screening arm (S-arm) (n = 21 210 with screening every 4 yr, applying a total prostate-specific antigen [PSA] level cut-off 3.0 ng/ml as biopsy indication) or a control arm (C-arm) (n = 21 166; no intervention). Outcome measurements and statistical analysis: Number of PCas detected per arm depicted by predefined time periods and prognostic groups. PCa-specific mortality analyses using Poisson regression in age group 55-74 yr at randomization and separately in the predefined age group of 55-69 yr. Results and limitations: After a median follow-up of 12.8 yr, 19 765 men (94.2%) were screened at least once and 2674 PCas were detected (of which 561 [21.0%] were interval PCas). In the C-arm, 1430 PCas were detected, resulting in an excess incidence of 59 PCas per 1000 men randomized (61 PCas per 1000 in age group 55-69 yr). Thirty-two percent of all men randomized have died. PCa-specific mortality relative-risk (RR) reductions of 20.0% overall (age: 55-74 yr; p = 0.042) and 31.6% (age: 55-69 yr; p = 0.004) were found. A 14.1% increase was found in men aged 70-74 yr (not statistically significant). Absolute PCa mortality was 1.8 per 1000 men randomized (2.6 per 1000 men randomized in age group 55-69 yr). The number needed to invite and number needed to manage were 565 and 33, respectively, for age group 55-74 yr, and 392 and 24, respectively, for age group 65-69 yr. Given the slow natural history of the disease, follow-up might be too short. Conclusions: Systematic PSA-based screening reduced PCa-specific mortality by 32% in the age range of 55-69 yr. The roughly twofold higher incidence in the S-arm underlines the importance of tools to better identify those men who would benefit from screening.
Screening and Prostate-Cancer Mortality in a Randomized European Study
New England Journal of Medicine, 2009
Background The European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer was initiated in the early 1990s to evaluate the effect of screening with prostate-specific-antigen (PSA) testing on death rates from prostate cancer. Methods We identified 182,000 men between the ages of 50 and 74 years through registries in seven European countries for inclusion in our study. The men were randomly assigned to a group that was offered PSA screening at an average of once every 4 years or to a control group that did not receive such screening. The predefined core age group for this study included 162,243 men between the ages of 55 and 69 years. The primary outcome was the rate of death from prostate cancer. Mortality follow-up was identical for the two study groups and ended on December 31, 2006. Results In the screening group, 82% of men accepted at least one offer of screening. During a median follow-up of 9 years, the cumulative incidence of prostate cancer was 8.2% in the screening group and 4.8% in the control group. The rate ratio for death from prostate cancer in the screening group, as compared with the control group, was 0.80 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.65 to 0.98; adjusted P = 0.04). The absolute risk difference was 0.71 death per 1000 men. This means that 1410 men would need to be screened and 48 additional cases of prostate cancer would need to be treated to prevent one death from prostate cancer. The analysis of men who were actually screened during the first round (excluding subjects with noncompliance) provided a rate ratio for death from prostate cancer of 0.73 (95% CI, 0.56 to 0.90). Conclusions PSA-based screening reduced the rate of death from prostate cancer by 20% but was associated with a high risk of overdiagnosis. (Current Controlled Trials number, ISRCTN49127736.
Rationale for randomised trials of prostate cancer screening
European Journal of Cancer, 1999
Screening for prostate cancer has been advocated by a number of organisations largely because there is good evidence that administration of the test for prostate speci®c antigen (PSA) results in the detection of cancers at an early stage. However, the mere fact that a cancer can be detected earlier in its natural history by screening is no guarantee that bene®t will follow. Further, screening for prostate cancer can substantially impair the quality of life of those with detected and treated cancer, that would not otherwise have reduced life expectancy. The only established mechanism to evaluate the eYcacy of screening is the randomised controlled trial. In this paper we review the trials contributing to our collaboration, the advantages that will¯ow from them, and the reasons why decisions on the introduction of population-based screening for prostate cancer cannot be made before these trials have come to fruition.
2012
Recently, the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) published a review of the evidence for screening for prostate cancer 1 and made a clear recommendation against screening. By giving a grade of "D" in the recommendation statement that was based on this review, the USPSTF concluded that "there is moderate or high certainty that this service has no net benefit or that the harms outweigh the benefits." 2(p3) Whether these harms of screening, overdiagnosis and overtreatment, are justified by the benefits in terms of reduced prostate cancer mortality is open to reasonable doubt. As such, we can understand why a guideline group might recommend against prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening, particularly the way in which it is currently practiced in the United States. That said, the USPSTF report contained a number of important errors of fact, interpretation, and statistics.
European Urology, 2012
E U R O P E A N U R O L O G Y X X X ( 2 0 1 2 ) X X X -X X X a v a i l a b l e a t w w w . s c i e n c e d i r e c t . c o m j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w . e u r o p e a n u r o l o g y . c o m Abstract Background: Metastatic disease is a major morbidity of prostate cancer (PCa). Its prevention is an important goal. Objective: To assess the effect of screening for PCa on the incidence of metastatic disease in a randomized trial. Design, setting, and participants: Data were available for 76 813 men aged 55-69 yr coming from four centers of the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC). The presence of metastatic disease was evaluated by imaging or by prostate-specific antigen (PSA) values >100 ng/ml at diagnosis and during follow-up. Intervention: Regular screening based on serum PSA measurements was offered to 36 270 men randomized to the screening arm, while no screening was provided to the 40 543 men in the control arm. Outcome measurements and statistical analysis: The Nelson-Aalen technique and Poisson regression were used to calculate cumulative incidence and rate ratios of M+ disease. Results and limitations: After a median follow-up of 12 yr, 666 men with M+ PCa were detected, 256 in the screening arm and 410 in the control arm, resulting in cumulative incidence of 0.67% and 0.86% per 1000 men, respectively ( p < 0.001). This finding translated into a relative reduction of 30% (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.70; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.60-0.82; p = 0.001) in the intention-to-screen analysis and a 42% ( p = 0.0001) reduction for men who were actually screened. An absolute risk reduction of metastatic disease of 3.1 per 1000 men randomized (0.31%) was found. A large discrepancy was seen when comparing the rates of M+ detected at diagnosis and all M+ cases that emerged during the total follow-up period, a 50% reduction (HR: 0.50; 95% CI, 0.41-0.62) versus the 30% reduction. The main limitation is incomplete explanation of the lack of an effect of screening during follow-up. Conclusions: PSA screening significantly reduces the risk of developing metastatic PCa. However, despite earlier diagnosis with screening, certain men still progress and develop metastases.