(Washington, DC) -- The man who discovered the most commonly used tool for detecting prostate cancer is now calling it a "hugely expensive public health disaster." Doctor Richard Ablin is calling the PSA screening test too costly and ineffective. In a commentary written for the "New York Times," Ablin said "I never dreamed that my discovery four decades ago would lead to such a profit-driven public health disaster." He said the annual tab for PSA screening alone has hit three-billion dollars. The doctor says he's been trying to make one thing clear for many years. That is, PSA testing can't detect prostate cancer and can't distinguish between one type that can kill and the other that won't. The test is nothing more than an indicator that shows how much of the prostate antigen is in the blood.
Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men, behind lung cancer, killing 254-thousand people each year. Ablin says PSA testing has a place, but only after treatment for prostate cancer and for men with a family history of the disease.
