I can speak from experience because I am a 14 year prostate cancer survivor. I was diagnosed at the age of 42 purely by accident due my former employer instituting PSA tests for all male employees as a part of our physicals. I was given all the options (wait & see, seeding, radiation, hormone therapy and surgery). I chose to have the damn thing taken out and don't regret my decision for one minute. I continue to have PSA's every year just to make sure that there has been no occurrence. I don't really care what all of the studies show and my GP just returned from a conference at Harvard University where the faculty has promoted the idea that the cost of performing 1000 tests does not outweigh the saving of the lives of the 8 men in whom cancer would have been found. Sounds to me like a corporate decision and a cost/benefit analysis. I don't believe you can put a value on a human life much less 8 human lives. IMHO - do the test and cost be damned! In the end, it's a very personal decision that each man must make in conjunction with his MD and significant other.
