Dr. Cooperberg on the Impact of Prostate Cancer Screening

Matthew Cooperberg, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Urology; Epidemiology & Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, describes the future and historical impact of screening in prostate cancer.

There is a great deal of excitement over the multitude of new agents recently approved to treat advanced prostate cancer. Additionally, Cooperberg points out, markers are being researched to help identify patients who will benefit the most from these treatments. However, future advances are contingent on effectively screening patients, Cooperberg believes.

Completely abandoning screening will have a disastrous impact on survival rates, Cooperberg suggests. Furthermore, despite salient progress made in advanced disease, discontinuing screening could undo the progress made in the past 10-15 years. As a result, screening only those who are likely to benefit, in order to achieve optimal results, could enhance screening without completely doing away with the approach.