Unnecessary treatment

Truly one of the most unbearable bits of news a person can hear from a doctor is they have cancer. In Canada, many are expected to hear this news.

According to figures from the Canadian Cancer Society, 171,000 new cases of cancer will be detected in this country, with over 75,000 deaths expected to occur.

Consider all of the treatment one has to go through to try and combat a more serious strain of the illness. Repeated chemotherapy treatments, countless pills, and surgeries are just some of the physical pain to go through, not including the emotional turmoil shared with friends and family members hoping for the best outcome.

Imagine then that a person learns they did not need this treatment in the first place. A troubling thought that might not be unimaginable in a province that's already been rocked by scandal involving flawed breast cancer screening.

However, in this case we're talking about people who have a form of cancer, but who receive what a new study calls an "overdiagnosis."

The Journal of the National Cancer Institute in the United States published a study that found one million American males have gone through unnecessary treatment for prostate cancer within the last 20 years when they could have beat the illness could have been left alone safely.

Someone could throw out the argument that you're better safe than sorry when it comes to cancer, but there's a price to pay in this case. According to the study, surgeries and radiation treatment to deal with prostate cancer can result in impotence, incontinence, and pain.

The "overdiagnosis" stems from the prostate-specific-antigen (PSA) test, which is designed to detect cancer at an early stage. It measures a chemical whose level increases in the body when prostate cancer is present. This test became more common within the last 20 years.

The study's lead author, Dr. Gilbert Welch, said the test should allow doctors to detect the same number of cancers - but to find them earlier.

According to the Canadian Cancer Society, 23,500 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year, and 4,400 die from it.

The positives of the test are that, simply put, people with prostate cancer are more likely to beat the disease. The study found men over 50 are 3.6 times more likely to be diagnosed for prostate cancer compared to before PSA tests were introduced, and 7.2 times more likely for males over 50.

Nevertheless, this study shows there is a need to strengthen the results of this form of testing in order to spare those with a seemingly minor form of prostate cancer from having to go through unnecessary emotional and physical turmoil.