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Source: ONE News -
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New Zealand specialists say men as young as 40 should have regular prostate checks, because they believe waiting until 50 is just too risky.
A case in point is Sydney man Ross Jeffrey, who discovered he had prostate cancer at the age of 46, after his doctor encouraged him to have a blood test.
Jeffery says he used to think prostate cancer was an old man's disease.
"There was no family history of cancer and so there was no symptoms."
But Jeffery is glad he was made aware of the disease as early as possible.
"I know I made the right decision by being proactive, by talking to my GP."
Around 500 New Zealand and Australian men in their 40s are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year.
The Urological Society says that is 500 too many and have made an announcement saying men should not wait until they are 50 to get a check-up.
Dr David Malouf of the Urological Society says a single test is very helpful.
"A single test at the age of 40 is a strong predictor of your prostate cancer risk," he says.
They say if that test reveals a PSA blood level higher than 0.6, then there is risk.
"Even men who do not have a family history can develop prostate cancer in their 40s, and by having a single PSA test at the age of 40, men can be stratified into high risk and low risk and have follow-ups scheduled accordingly," says Malouf.
However, there are fears that the new advice could do more harm than good, as prostate testing for men without symptoms is medically controversial.
Some, like the National Health Committee, say the PSA blood test is unreliable, throwing up far too many false positive and negative results and can set in train a raft of medical interventions which may cause more harm.
Dr Jim Vause of the College of GPs says the tests are issues that GPs and patients need to weigh up.
"Its better that they seek information rather than just seek the test, that's the message, they've got to be informed," says Vause.
Urologists agree it is an individual's decision in conjunction with their GP.
Dying unnecessarily
The news comes on the same day a parliamentary select committee were told that hundreds of men were unnecessarily dying of prostate cancer every year because doctors refuse to test them.
New Zealand Prostate Cancer Foundation president Barry Young told the Health Select Committee that some doctors, unaware of the benefits, were turning away men who had requested prostate cancer tests.
"That's a death sentence, yet it's happening here in this country."
Prostate cancer testing guidelines are confusing and some doctors are unaware of the benefits of early testing as a result, Young says.
"The attitude of some members of the medical profession has indeed led to the deaths of men in this country," he says.
Although public awareness of prostate cancer is an issue, doctors also need to be better informed, Young says.
"We need an education programme for the medical profession in this country."
Men over 40 need to be tested regularly because prostate cancer does not present symptoms until it begins to spread throughout the body, Young says.
A national prostate cancer screening programme should be implemented, he says.
