On behalf of the one in eight Canadian men who will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime, and their families, Prostate Cancer Canada would like to thank the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) and City of Powell River mayor Dave Formosa for their support of government-funded prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing for men.
The prostate cancer mortality rate has been reduced by 40 per cent over the past two decades. This reduction is due in large part to advances in treatment and early detection, with PSA testing playing a significant role in the latter.
While it is true that not all men who have heightened PSA levels have prostate cancer, and not all men who have prostate cancer will have an aggressive form that requires immediate treatment, it is also true that approximately 4,000 Canadian men die annually from the most common cancer in males.
In order to give men more than a 90 per cent chance at survival, prostate cancer must be detected at a stage when it is still isolated to the prostate gland, and, often times, asymptomatic.
The PSA test is the best tool we currently have to alert men to the presence of prostate cancer at such an early stage. Once the cancer has spread outside the prostate, survival at five years drops to 28 per cent.
Each case of prostate cancer is different. There are men who could live well into old age without ever needing to know they had prostate cancer, but there are also men who can die far too young if it is not caught early.
Prostate Cancer Canada maintains prostate cancer screening should be tailored to each individual, taking into account their personal risk. We recommend men be proactive about their health and have a baseline PSA reading at age 40 to get ahead of things.
For a man who does not meet the current Medical Services Plan of BC criteria, the out-of-pocket expense for a single PSA test is approximately $30, plus tax.
Based on available information from other provinces, we estimate that publicly-funded PSA screening could reduce test costs to as low as $10 per test, one of the least expensive medical tests available, and one that could result in a large net savings for the province.
If we assume that the 580 men in BC who died of prostate cancer in 2014 had their cancer diagnosed early and benefited from localized, conservative management, by not needing to provide treatment for advanced disease, this would have resulted in up to $10 million in savings for the BC government.
With the support of collective voices such as UBCM, PCC will continue to work closely with the BC government to help find a workable solution to join eight other provinces in covering the cost of PSA testing.
Thank you again for drawing attention to this important matter.
Donald McInnes is the past board chair of Prostate Cancer Canada.
