EAU 2017 | Preventing prostate cancer mortality through population based screening

Hendrik Van Poppel, MD, PhD, from KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, discusses the advantages of using population based screening to prevent prostate cancer mortality at the European Association of Urology (EAU) conference 2017, in London, UK. The ERSPC study provided evidence that population based screening of PSA reduces prostate cancer mortality, conflicting with both Swedish and American data. The problem with population based screening is overtreatment, resulting from over diagnosis, which can be overcome by using MRI and biomarkers. He explains that over the past few years, the EAU have been submitting proposals to the European Parliament and the European Commission in order to create guidelines that lead to more effective screening to prevent over diagnosis.