Episode 16: The myth of cancer screening and PSA

Straight Talking Doc Unhinged

We have been told that picking up cancers early and fixing them will save lives. But does it? It depends on the cancer. For breast and colon cancer, for instance, lifetime screening saves 1/1000 people from cancer deaths compared to those never screened. Other cancers, such as ovarian and pancreatic, are so aggressive that screening is not of value, since once these cancers are visible they have already spread. Prostate Cancer is the opposite. It effects 35% of all men, but kills only 1% of them. It grows so slowly that early treatment doesn't impact the rate of death; if you're unlucky enough to have the rare and severe form, treatment won't help. Doing PSA blood tests will pick up prostate cancers, lead to biopsies and tests, lead to aggressive and harmful treatments, but save no lives. Then, why do we do it? It costs our health care system tens of billions of dollars every year, feeds doctors and other members of the Medical Industrial Complex with lots of money, and gives men the illusion that their lives are saved, but causes far more harm than good. Listen to why PSA tells us a lot about our nation's doctors and health care system and why we need to fear both.