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I have not read all the studies referred to in the Bostwick page but those I have read are not exactly conclusive, referring to associations between the various tests and potential outcomes. Association is not proof.
I don’t have time right now to read all the references, but perhaps someone else might and summarise the relevance of these small studies?
I have just returned from a one month cruise. I had more than 500 e-mails to deal with: I am trying to find a way to open the Experience pages again. That is why I don't have the time to read all these Abstracts, but I'm prepared to bet London to a brick that none of them is long term and that few of them have a direct bearing on the issue.
We all deal with the issue of our diagnosis in our own ways. when you say:
So, the bottom line is when you have run out of time and you are facing the treatment that you had hoped to avoid, it does not matter whether or not there are long-term studies. You are going to grasp hold of the last hope you have. Favorable ProstaVysion results not backed by long-term studies are better than no test results at all (because then all that is left is the surgery).
I have to say that is not what my decision would have been in your position. For ME but not necessarily for anyone else relying on a long term prediction from a test that has not demonstarted long term outcomes makes no more sense that assuming that a PSA of 4.1 indicates a greater risk of PCa than a PSA of 4.0
But good luck to you - as the aims of the YANA site says:
To provide comfort to any man diagnosed with prostate cancer, to offer thoughtful support to him and his family and to help them to decide how best to deal with the diagnosis by providing them with and guiding them to suitable information, being mindful at all times that it is the individual's ultimate choice that the path he decides to follow is his own and that of his family, based on his particular circumstances.
