http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2009/10/robotic-surgery-prostate-cancer-help-patients.html Wed, 15 Feb 2012 00:27:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2009/10/robotic-surgery-prostate-cancer-help-patients.html#comment-114283 Michael Kirsch, M.D. Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:55:30 +0000 http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/?p=40718#comment-114283 From today's New York Times. http://bit.ly/3UdKOp From today’s New York Times. http://bit.ly/3UdKOp

]]> http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2009/10/robotic-surgery-prostate-cancer-help-patients.html#comment-114207 Michael Kirsch, M.D. Mon, 19 Oct 2009 23:38:15 +0000 http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/?p=40718#comment-114207 The author may be asking the wrong question. The proper question may be, should the prostate cancer be treated? I have been hostile to the PSA test since I was an intern over 20 years ago, and I haven't changed my mind. In my view, this test, and the cascade that results from a high reading, harms many more men than it saves. Most of the men treated would never have been clnically affected by their silent disease. Others disagree with me, but the medical facts support that the urologists are casting an overly wide net in order to catch cancers that truly matter. I posted on this subject on my blog and received the highest volume of spirited comments to date. Robots are a great technical achievement. That doesn't mean that we physicians need to emulate them. The author may be asking the wrong question. The proper question may be, should the prostate cancer be treated? I have been hostile to the PSA test since I was an intern over 20 years ago, and I haven’t changed my mind. In my view, this test, and the cascade that results from a high reading, harms many more men than it saves. Most of the men treated would never have been clnically affected by their silent disease. Others disagree with me, but the medical facts support that the urologists are casting an overly wide net in order to catch cancers that truly matter. I posted on this subject on my blog and received the highest volume of spirited comments to date. Robots are a great technical achievement. That doesn’t mean that we physicians need to emulate them.

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