6 Apr 2024 • According to a new Lancet study, the number of annual prostate cases are projected to rise from 1.4 million in 2020 to 2.9 million in 2040.

Addressing the growing burden will require urgent and radical interventions. Trials of screening are urgently needed in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to better inform ways to improve early diagnosis while avoiding overdiagnosis and overtreatment of trivial disease, as well as to identify novel methods of empowering patients (such as cloud-based medical record systems), and the implementation of resource-sensitive guidelines to maximize the effect of available therapies, such as surgery and radiotherapy.

As the rise in prostate cancer is likely to be mirrored by rises in other conditions such as diabetes and heart disease, early diagnosis programmes should focus not just on prostate cancer but on men's health more broadly.

Source: The Lancet | Read full story