Crawford serves on expert panel

David Crawford, professor of urologic and radiation oncology at the School of Medicine, and section head of urologic oncology, University of Colorado Hospital, participated in an expert panel convened recently by the American Journal of Managed Care. The conversation focused on new treatment options in prostate cancer. Panelists examined specific agents used in the treatment of prostate cancer, including new immunotherapies.

Crawford and fellow panelists took issue with the May 2012 recommendation from the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) that said the PSA test used for prostate cancer screening could actually do harm to those men who do not understand its consequences. The USPSTF recommended against widespread screening even though the PSA test has been credited with significantly reducing prostate cancer mortality rates since the 1980s.

Crawford, who has published widely on the subject, said the PSA test “was too successful” in some ways, but that not screening was the wrong response when 30,000 men still die from the disease each year.