Prostate Cancer Quick Reference Guide

Prostate cancer is the commonest non-cutaneous cancer in Irish men. The challenge for patients and doctors is the fact that although the lifetime risk of developing microscopic prostate cancer in a 50 year old male is 42%, the lifetime risk of dying from prostate cancer is only 3%. Therefore we need to balance screening for a treatable cancer versus creating a cohort of worried well men who may have microscopic evidence of the disease but will ultimatley die from a completely unrelated condition.

To help create an evidence based approach to this issue Dr Darach O'Ciardha, Mr Rustom Manecksha and Dr Michael Boland have written a short concise impact document intended to encourage reflection on approaches to screening for prostate cancer in a general practice setting. This document was launched at the ICGP AGM 2008 in Galway.

A limited number of hard copies of the impact document on prostate screening are available for members. Please contact Ms Patricia Patton at patricia.patton@icgp.ie for further information.