New Screening Guidelines from Lab Tests Online

Based on a recent survey of leading medical authorities, Lab Tests Online (www.labtestsonline.org) has updated the site's screening recommendations.

The new recommendations take into consideration differing opinions on how frequently screening tests should be performed by providing the view of one or two more-acknowledged authorities, clarifying the ways they agree and disagree. For example, for adults over the age of 50, the site offers details on screening recommendations for prostate cancer, including subtle common positions and differences of opinion among the American Cancer Society, the American College of Preventive Medicine, the American Urological Society, and the U.S. National Comprehensive Cancer Network.

In the case of prostate cancer screening, there are varying perspectives on how to interpret prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test results, and on when radical treatment or just watchful waiting is appropriate. Uncertainties about which cancers will be slow growing and which will be life threatening, combined with serious side effects of many treatments, have generated debate and prompted further research on PSA testing. The evidence highlights the need for patients to be informed and to have ongoing discussions with their doctors about their risk factors to help guide their care.

The information for the new screening pages is drawn from a comprehensive survey of current literature from more than 60 government agencies, medical societies, advocacy and support groups, and other organizations.




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