Dr Koo on Results From a Survey on Barriers to Prostate Cancer Screening

“Looking at the entire prostate cancer landscape, it’s wonderful that we have new drugs to treat advanced and high-risk disease. However, we quickly realized that we can have the biggest [effect on patient outcomes] by just increasing screening rates.”

Phillip Koo, MD, the executive vice president and chief medical officer of the Prostate Cancer Foundation, discussed findings from a survey which evaluated prostate cancer screening rates.

The mission of the Prostate Cancer Foundation is to end death and suffering related to prostate cancer, Koo began. Although new drugs have had a significant effect on outcomes for the treatment of patients with advanced disease, increased screening rates could make the biggest difference for patients, he continued. Thus, the Prostate Cancer Foundation conducted a survey with the aim of better understanding the barriers for men to receive the appropriate screening test, he added

Findings from the survey, which were released during Prostate Cancer Awareness Month in September, revealed that 48% of respondents did not realize that screening is performed with a simple prostate-specific antigen blood test, Koo explained. This result indicates that many men still believe that digital rectal examination is a major component of prostate cancer screening, which is not the case, he confirmed. Such a finding was surprising to the survey authors, Koo added.

Additional findings from the survey showed that approximately 50% of men who were at least 45 years old are getting regular screenings as recommended by the Prostate Cancer Foundation, Koo emphasized. This population represents a key area where screening rates need to be improved, he said.

Moreover, African American men are at a greater risk of developing prostate cancer compared with other patients; they are also at greater risk of developing a more aggressive variant of the disease, Koo noted. Approximately 50% of patients in this subgroup were not aware of their increased risk of developing prostate cancer, he added. Findings from the survey will be applied to initiatives aimed at increasing prostate cancer screening rates, he concluded.