Prostate cancer screening

Prostate cancer is a major healthcare problem worldwide, especially in the industrialized countries of the Western world. Prostate cancer has become the most common type of cancer among men and is the second leading cause of years of life lost from cancer in males [58]. Incidence estimates for the year 2000 indicate prostate cancer newly affected 542,990 men worldwide that year, 204,313 of whom have since died. Early detection and treatment of prostate cancer could theoretically reduce the burden of this potentially disabling and deadly disease. However, because no conclusive, direct evidence demonstrates that early detection and treatment improve length or quality of life, the value of prostate cancer screening remains controversial.