Urology nurses examined the pros and cons regarding prostate cancer screening at the 14th International EAUN Meeting held in Milan, Italy, with prostate cancer experts from Europe sharing their views on the controversial subject.
“There is a lot of debate and opinions on this subject, and as urological nurses we are often the link between doctors and their patients. This session aims not only to inform our members but also to get the views from both sides of the issue, including patients themselves,” said Willem de Blok, who chaired the debate session on prostate cancer screening.
Held concurrently with the 28th Annual EAU Congress, the three-day EAUN conference aims to inform its members of the latest updates and current trends in urology.
R.C.N. Van Den Bergh, Utrecht (NL) presented the pro-view on PSA screening while K. Brasso, Lyngby (DK) provided the opposing opinion.
The presentations were later followed by a panel discussion with Brasso, K. Flynn Thomas, Dublin (IE) and H.A.M. Van Muilekom, Leiden (NL) as members. Moderated by Van Den Bergh, the panel carefully examined the benefits of early detection, while weighing its drawbacks in some groups of patients.
“The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle,” said Van Den Bergh. He added: “PSA screening at a population level reduces PCa mortality by 21 to 29%, while at the same time PSA screening results in a large over-diagnosis of 50%.”
Comments from the audience also indicated that patients’ views must be carefully considered as some patient prefer active treatment from doctors over so-called watchful waiting strategies.
“It would also be interesting and insightful for us to know the views of patients themselves,” said one of the panelists.
Meanwhile, De Blok said the lively responses from the audience showed that many urology nurses are keeping close track of the debates among urologists. “One insight we can pick out from this session is that we also have to listen to the patients, and inform them accordingly of all the pros and cons.”
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