[Leica] Elder Prostate Wisdom

[Steve Barbour]

> On Feb 22, 2015, at 4:33 PM, Philip Leeson <leesonpj at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> I think that if the inventor of the test says it's being misused, it bears some reflection.

I certainly do agree Phil...the following considerations make me suspicious of his logic, reasoning, also possible financial interests.

though he (Ablin) discovered PSA, an enzyme/antigen from the prostate, not AFAIK PSA,  per se, as a test for cancer.

he feels that the PSA test is not appropriately being used, as a screening tool

his father died of aggressive terminal prostatic CA 

he is a PhD, not an MD, ie not a clinician.

he feels that too much money is being spent on this approach

I suspect only !! reading between the lines of his own arguments,  that he may have a burr under his saddle that he is not making more money, from the use of PSA, which as he points out, is very big business....


Like most things this whole issue is far from simple. I tend to believe PSA assays may be more reliable in following the response to therapy when diagnosis has been made, and PSA levels are high,  than for screening, where there are too many false positives and negatives.

It appears we are trying to simply differentiate between common benign prostatic Ca and the  fortunately, much rarer aggressive prostatic CA. Often if a question of one versus the other exists, in the absence of symptoms, without pain or bone mets, then in fact we already have our answer. This should be part of a scientific study and might in fact make the use of PSA totally redundant...


Steve

 





> 
> 
> 
> 
>> On Feb 22, 2015, at 6:16 PM, Steve Barbour <steve.barbour at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> 
>>> On Feb 22, 2015, at 3:46 PM, Philip Leeson <leesonpj at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>> True
>>> NY Times opinion piece by Richard Ablin , March 9, 2010
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> this is perhaps true Phil, (I happen to believe so), but there must be better proof than a NY Times op/ed  piece by someone who runs his own Foundation.
>> 
>> 
>> Steve
>> 
>> 
>> 
>>> 
>>> Phil
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> On Feb 22, 2015, at 4:39 PM, Steve Barbour <steve.barbour at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>>> On Feb 22, 2015, at 3:58 AM, Douglas Nygren via LUG <lug at leica-users.org> wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>> One of my doctors told me that every man's prostate will eventually kill him. If we could live forever, our prostates would do us in nevertheless.
>>>>> That said, I read somewhere, if I am not mistaken, that the doctor who invented the PSA no longer believes in it.
>>>> 
>>>> who ? why? is this documented?
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> s
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>>> I reported such to my doctor who nevertheless thinks the test is a good idea. 
>>>>> "In tests we believe," should be printed on the dollar bill. It's like military weapons in the hands of the police. If you've got them, you've got to use them.
>>>>> If you don't test and the patient gets prostate cancer, you are liable, I would guess.
>>>>> If your PSA gives a false alarms, your doctor is not in danger of being sued.
>>>>> Personally, I abide by what the U.S. Surgeon General may have said, namely, Science has proven that life is hazardous to your health.
>>>>> BTW, I do get my PSA checked.
>>>>> Cheers?? Doug
>>>>> 
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>>>> 
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