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Mortality results from the Goteborg randomised population-based prostate-cancer screening trial

Hugosson, Jonas ; Carlsson, Sigrid LU ; Aus, Gunnar ; Bergdahl, Svante ; Khatami, Ali ; Lodding, Par ; Pihl, Carl-Gustaf ; Stranne, Johan ; Holmberg, Erik and Lilja, Hans LU orcid (2010) In The Lancet Oncology 11(8). p.725-732
Abstract
Background Prostate cancer is one of the leading causes of death from malignant disease among men in the developed world. One strategy to decrease the risk of death from this disease is screening with prostate-specific antigen (PSA); however, the extent of benefit and harm with such screening is under continuous debate. Methods In December, 1994, 20 000 men born between 1930 and 1944, randomly sampled from the population register, were randomised by computer in a 1:1 ratio to either a screening group invited for PSA testing every 2 years (n=10 000) or to a control group not invited (n=10 000). Men in the screening group were invited up to the upper age limit (median 69, range 67-71 years) and only men with raised PSA concentrations were... (More)
Background Prostate cancer is one of the leading causes of death from malignant disease among men in the developed world. One strategy to decrease the risk of death from this disease is screening with prostate-specific antigen (PSA); however, the extent of benefit and harm with such screening is under continuous debate. Methods In December, 1994, 20 000 men born between 1930 and 1944, randomly sampled from the population register, were randomised by computer in a 1:1 ratio to either a screening group invited for PSA testing every 2 years (n=10 000) or to a control group not invited (n=10 000). Men in the screening group were invited up to the upper age limit (median 69, range 67-71 years) and only men with raised PSA concentrations were offered additional tests such as digital rectal examination and prostate biopsies. The primary endpoint was prostate-cancer specific mortality, analysed according to the intention-to-screen principle. The study is ongoing, with men who have not reached the upper age limit invited for PSA testing. This is the first planned report on cumulative prostate-cancer incidence and mortality calculated up to Dec 31, 2008. This study is registered as an International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial ISRCTN54449243. Findings In each group, 48 men were excluded from the analysis because of death or emigration before the randomisation date, or prevalent prostate cancer. In men randomised to screening, 7578 (76%) of 9952 attended at least once. During a median follow-up of 14 years, 1138 men in the screening group and 718 in the control group were diagnosed with prostate cancer, resulting in a cumulative prostate-cancer incidence of 12.7% in the screening group and 8.2% in the control group (hazard ratio 1.64; 95% CI 1.50-1-80; p<0.0001). The absolute cumulative risk reduction of death from prostate cancer at 14 years was 0.40% (95% CI 0.17-0.64), from 0.90% in the control group to 0.50% in the screening group. The rate ratio for death from prostate cancer was 0.56 (95% CI 0.39-0.82; p=0.002) in the screening compared with the control group. The rate ratio of death from prostate cancer for attendees compared with the control group was 0.44 (95% CI 0.28-0.68; p=0.0002). Overall, 293 (95% CI 177-799) men needed to be invited for screening and 12 to be diagnosed to prevent one prostate cancer death. Interpretation This study shows that prostate cancer mortality was reduced almost by half over 14 years However, the risk of over-diagnosis is substantial and the number needed to treat is at least as high as in breast-cancer screening programmes. The benefit of prostate-cancer screening compares favourably to other cancer screening programs. (Less)
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author
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
The Lancet Oncology
volume
11
issue
8
pages
725 - 732
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • wos:000281009500018
  • scopus:77955279420
ISSN
1474-5488
DOI
10.1016/S1470-2045(10)70146-7
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
654fe9e3-861f-4c89-a7d1-36c00ad4ed8f (old id 1673651)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 10:04:03
date last changed
2023-12-21 12:05:54
@article{654fe9e3-861f-4c89-a7d1-36c00ad4ed8f,
  abstract     = {{Background Prostate cancer is one of the leading causes of death from malignant disease among men in the developed world. One strategy to decrease the risk of death from this disease is screening with prostate-specific antigen (PSA); however, the extent of benefit and harm with such screening is under continuous debate. Methods In December, 1994, 20 000 men born between 1930 and 1944, randomly sampled from the population register, were randomised by computer in a 1:1 ratio to either a screening group invited for PSA testing every 2 years (n=10 000) or to a control group not invited (n=10 000). Men in the screening group were invited up to the upper age limit (median 69, range 67-71 years) and only men with raised PSA concentrations were offered additional tests such as digital rectal examination and prostate biopsies. The primary endpoint was prostate-cancer specific mortality, analysed according to the intention-to-screen principle. The study is ongoing, with men who have not reached the upper age limit invited for PSA testing. This is the first planned report on cumulative prostate-cancer incidence and mortality calculated up to Dec 31, 2008. This study is registered as an International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial ISRCTN54449243. Findings In each group, 48 men were excluded from the analysis because of death or emigration before the randomisation date, or prevalent prostate cancer. In men randomised to screening, 7578 (76%) of 9952 attended at least once. During a median follow-up of 14 years, 1138 men in the screening group and 718 in the control group were diagnosed with prostate cancer, resulting in a cumulative prostate-cancer incidence of 12.7% in the screening group and 8.2% in the control group (hazard ratio 1.64; 95% CI 1.50-1-80; p&lt;0.0001). The absolute cumulative risk reduction of death from prostate cancer at 14 years was 0.40% (95% CI 0.17-0.64), from 0.90% in the control group to 0.50% in the screening group. The rate ratio for death from prostate cancer was 0.56 (95% CI 0.39-0.82; p=0.002) in the screening compared with the control group. The rate ratio of death from prostate cancer for attendees compared with the control group was 0.44 (95% CI 0.28-0.68; p=0.0002). Overall, 293 (95% CI 177-799) men needed to be invited for screening and 12 to be diagnosed to prevent one prostate cancer death. Interpretation This study shows that prostate cancer mortality was reduced almost by half over 14 years However, the risk of over-diagnosis is substantial and the number needed to treat is at least as high as in breast-cancer screening programmes. The benefit of prostate-cancer screening compares favourably to other cancer screening programs.}},
  author       = {{Hugosson, Jonas and Carlsson, Sigrid and Aus, Gunnar and Bergdahl, Svante and Khatami, Ali and Lodding, Par and Pihl, Carl-Gustaf and Stranne, Johan and Holmberg, Erik and Lilja, Hans}},
  issn         = {{1474-5488}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{8}},
  pages        = {{725--732}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{The Lancet Oncology}},
  title        = {{Mortality results from the Goteborg randomised population-based prostate-cancer screening trial}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(10)70146-7}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/S1470-2045(10)70146-7}},
  volume       = {{11}},
  year         = {{2010}},
}