Nothing like data showing significant death reduction can better support prostate cancer screening

Table 1 Comparative characteristics of the randomized European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer and Quebec studies

Study	No. in study	Date of start/end enrolment	Contamination of control group	PSA cut off(ng/mL)	Screening frequency	Median follow-up	Planned screening interval	Controlled treatment	Effect on prostatecancer deaths
ERSPC[4]	162388 55-69 yr	1993-2003	23%-40%	3	1/5.7 yr	13 yr	4 yr	No	21% reduction (P = 0.001) 27% after adjustment for non-compliance
Quebec[6]	46486 45-80 yr	1988-1999	7.30% (no prestudy screening)	3	1/yr	7.9 yr	1 yr	Yes	62% reduction (P < 0.002)

PSA: Prostate-specific antigen; ERSPC: European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer.