Zeroing in On Prostate Cancer

Less than a month after Proactive Genomics launched its $300 prostate cancer genetic test, deCODE Diagnostics has caught up with its $500 deCODE PrCa test that analyzes eight SNPs. While deCODE is confident early detection is one way to, if not beat then, get a strong leg up on, prostate cancer, others are not sure it matters. "Screening," writes Hsien-Hsien Lei at Eye on DNA, "is controversial. Some studies have not observed a decrease in mortality rate from early screening for prostate cancer. Early detection at younger ages may not be particularly useful because prostate cancer develops slowly and would be better left alone until many years down the line."