Cancer Advice from Consumer Repor

I saw this article on my phone today from a local news station, 

Cancer Test Men Don't Need.

Let's just say, I was moved to contact KCRA news about the article they posted.

The following are excerpts from the email I sent them:

As a 53 year old prostate cancer survivor I was very troubled when I opened my KCRA 3 app and read the article; CANCER TESTS MEN DON’T NEED…. 

… Several of the things that troubled me with your article and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force are as follows:

- Your article stated, Men aged 50 to 74 should talk with a doctor to see whether the benefits of the test outweigh the harm. What is the harm in getting a $25 blood test when 1 in 6 men in the U.S. will get prostate cancer?

- Your article stated, Test are not likely to detect the cancer at a curable stage.  This year over 230,000 men in the U.S. will be diagnosed with prostate cancer and nearly 30,000 will die of prostate cancer. (From American Cancer Society – not Consumer Reports)  In other words for a large majority of those 230,000 men, prostate cancer is curable.  Should we really be taking cancer advice from Consumer Reports?

- The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force stated in their May 2012 report that, ...very few men die of prostate cancer before age 60.  I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t want to be one of the “very few” men who die of prostate cancer before age 60.  I personally think it is worth a $25 blood test (that my insurance provides at no cost) to find out if I could be among those “very few” men.

- The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force also stated that, ... seventy percent of the deaths due to prostate cancer occur after 75 years. That means that 30%, or 9,000 of the deaths are before age 75.  Not a group I would like to be a part of.

- The U.S. Preventative Services Task Force panel that came up with the recommendation against PSA screening had NO practicing urologists or oncologists.

I could go on and on with facts and figures that support getting a simple PSA blood test to determine the possibility of having prostate cancer, but the best reason I can give as a stage 3 prostate cancer survivor is that a PSA test saved my life.

… In the future I would like to suggest that KCRA not use Consumer Reports when reporting health topics.  However; if you are reporting on the best coffee maker or blender to purchase Consumer Reports should have much more reliable information than the American Cancer Society or Cancer Research Institute.