Prostate cancer blood testing touted

Black men especially appear to benefit

A blood test to screen for prostate cancer may be better at doing so than experts originally thought, particularly among Black men, according to a new study.

There’s no standard test for prostate cancer, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Two of the more commonly used tests are a digital rectal exam and a blood test for prostate specific antigen, an enzyme that is typically higher in men with prostate cancer.

A study published Sunday in the New England Journal of Medicine Evidence looked at how successful the blood tests were for all races, and specifically for Black men, by estimating how often these tests led to over overdiagnosis and overtreatment. The researchers looked at three decades of records through 2016, the last year records were available.

Not only was the test more effectivethan scientists originally thought, the study determined that the net benefit is even better for Black men than for the general population.

One death was prevented for every 11 to 14 men of all races diagnosed with cancer, the study says. Among Black men, the test prevented 1 death for every 8 to 12 men diagnosed and 1 death for every 5 to 9 men treated for prostate cancer.