Testing, Research Will Reduce Prostate Cancer

Thanks to Benedict Carey for calling attention to prostate cancer (“Treating Prostate Cancer,” June 5). With more than 180,000 cases and nearly 32,000 deaths expected in 2000, we hope that more men and families become invested in beating this disease.

Mr. Carey should note that prostate cancer deaths have dropped significantly in the last year (about 14%), and many researchers argue that this is due to early discovery of disease through PSA [prostate-specific antigen] testing. For example, a recent Austrian study has demonstrated that a population receiving regular PSA testing had fewer prostate cancer deaths when compared with a population that did not get tested.

While some associations continue to debate PSA, too many survivors of prostate cancer affirm the value of the test, especially given new assays that help pin down the diagnosis when the PSA is high. Sadly, these survivors include physicians who had put off testing, only to discover that their first PSA and subsequent work-up revealed prostate cancer.

At the end of the day, it’s not just testing that will end prostate cancer. New treatments are desperately needed, and research will assure that these become available quickly. Charities funding research, like Santa Monica-based CaP CURE, and organizations mobilizing government research investments, like NPCC, help solve the problem of prostate cancer. But all of us are mobilized by thousands of survivors and family members who carry a torch of urgency to Washington, Sacramento and other state houses across the country.

--DR. RICHARD N. ATKINS

Vice chairman, National Prostate

Cancer Coalition