Early Detection Programs For Prostate Cancer Research Articles

Prostate Cancer Screening with PSA: Ten Years' Experience of Population Based Early Prostate Cancer Detection Programme in Lithuania.

The aim of this study is to report key performance estimates from the ten years of a population-based prostate cancer screening programme in Lithuania. Retrospective analysis of screening activities recorded in 2006–2015 among men aged 50–74 years was performed. We estimated screening coverage, cancer detection rate, compliance to biopsy, and positive predictive values in each screening round inside and outside the target population. In the first 10 years of screening, 16,061 prostate cancer cases were registered within the screening programme, 10,202 were observed among screened men but reported outside the screening programme, and 1455 prostate cancers were observed in a screening-naïve population. Screening cover reached up to 45.5% of the target population in the recent rounds. The proportion of prostate specific antigen (PSA) test-positive men decreased from 16.9% in 2006 to 10.7% in 2014–2015. Up to 40.0% of PSA test-positive men received a biopsy, of whom 42.0% were positive for prostate cancer. The cancer detection rate was 10.4−15.0% among PSA test-positives and 1.4–1.9% among screened individuals. Screening participants were more likely to be diagnosed with organ-confined disease as compared to non-participants. Despite the unorganized screening practices being employed and low coverage per screening round, 70% of the target population were screened at least once in the first 10 years of screening.

Incidence of prostate cancer in Lithuania after introduction of the Early Prostate Cancer Detection Programme

In Lithuania, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing is offered to healthy asymptomatic men as a screening test in the population-based Early Prostate Cancer Detection Programme (EPCDP). The aim of this study was to analyse the incidence of prostate cancer before and after introduction of the EPCDP in Lithuania. Prostate cancer incidence and mortality data from the Lithuanian Cancer Registry were analysed for the period 1990-2008. Age-specific incidence and mortality data were adjusted to the European Standard Population. There have been extraordinary changes in the incidence of prostate cancer in Lithuania following introduction of the EPCDP, and there is strong evidence that these changes are the result of increased detection rates, especially in men of screening age. Further observation of changes in prostate cancer incidence and mortality in Lithuania may help to determine the extent to which PSA testing at the population level influences incidence and mortality in the general population.