HEALTH
Doppelt soviele Prostatakrebs Fälle in 20 Jahren
April 5, 2024 -
Die Zahl der Männer mit Diagnose Prostatakrebs – die häufigste Form von Krebs bei Männern in über 100 Ländern – dürfte sich auf 2,9 Millionen Fälle bis 2040 verdoppeln, wobei Todesfälle um 85% auf
700.000 ansteigen.
Symptoms of prostate cancer include more frequent need to urinate, or difficulty urinating, often at night. However, these are also caused by benign prostate hyperplasia, an enlargement of the prostate common in men over 50. As age is a major factor in the number of people living with prostate cancer, an ageing population and increased life expectancy means there will be an inevitable rise in the number of cases, according to the findings published in The Lancet’s Commission on Prostate Cancer.
The researchers called for new and improved ways of testing for the disease, to reduce overdiagnosis and overtreatment while detecting potentially lethal tumours earlier. High-income countries need to re-evaluate the use of Prostate Specific Antigen blood tests which can result in overdiagnosis of low-risk cancers while also missing some high-risk cancers, and instead spend more on public awareness campaigns and MRI tests for younger men with a family history of the disease, are of African ancestry, or carry a genetic susceptibility. Lower and middle-income countries are advised to prepare for the strain on services that a surge in cases is likely to bring.