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Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a well-controlled programme of early detection and treatment of prostate cancer in the population of Tyrol, Austria, where such a programme of early detection and treatment was initiated in 1988 and where prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing was offered for free to all men aged 45-75 years from 1993., Subjects and Methods: Comparison of prostate cancer mortality rates in Tyrol and the rest of Austria was accomplished through a generalized additive model. A piecewise linear change-point Poisson regression model was used to compare mortality rates in Tyrol and the rest of Austria. Standardized mortality ratios were calculated with reference to the mortality rates in 1986-1990., Results: In all, 86.6% of eligible men have been tested at least once since 1993. Cancer deaths in Tyrol in 2005 were 54% (95% confidence interval [CI] 34-69%) lower than expected compared with 29% (95% CI 22-35%) in the rest of Austria. The decreasing trend in prostate cancer mortality was significantly greater in Tyrol compared with the rest of Austria (P = 0.001). A significant migration to lower stage disease occurred and radical prostatectomy was associated with low morbidity., Conclusions: In the Tyrol region where treatment is freely available to all patients, where widespread PSA testing and treatment with curative intent occurs, there was a reduction in prostate cancer mortality rates which was significantly greater than the reduction in the rest of Austria. This reduction in prostate cancer mortality is most probably due to early detection, consequent down-staging and effective treatment of prostate cancer.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to monitor the impact of prostate cancer screening in a natural experiment by comparing prostate cancer mortality in Tyrol, Austria, where prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing was made available at no charge, with the rest of Austria, where this screening was not introduced., Methods: In 1993, PSA testing was made freely available to men aged 40 to 79 years old living in the Federal State of Tyrol, Austria. In the first 10 years of this study, at least 70% of all men in this age range had PSA tests done at least once. Initially, only total PSA was measured, but free PSA measurement was added in 1995, and complexed PSA was added in 2001. Digital rectal examination (DRE) was not part of the screening examination., Results: Significant migration to lower clinical as well as pathological prostate cancer stages has been observed in patients undergoing radical prostatectomy since the introduction of this screening program. A reduction in mortality rates from prostate cancer in Austria occurred from 1993 onward, with a much greater reduction in Tyrol; mortality remained fairly constant between 1993 and 1995 and subsequently fell. From 1993 to 2000 (the most recent data), there was a significantly greater decrease in the rate of prostate cancer mortality in Tyrol compared to the rest of Austria (P value = 0.006). Based on age-specific death rates for men aged 40 to 79, the difference between the number of expected and observed deaths from prostate cancer in Tyrol was 22 in 1998 (a 42% decrease), 18 in 1999 (a 33% decrease) and 25 in 2000 (a 44% decrease)., Conclusions: These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that a policy of making PSA testing freely available, and wide acceptance by men in the population, is associated with a reduction in prostate cancer mortality in an area in which urology services and radiotherapy are available freely to all patients. It is our opinion that most of this decline in mortality is likely to be due to aggressive downstaging and successful treatment and that any contribution from detecting and treating early cancers will only become apparent in the years to come.

The aim of the Tyrol study was to monitor the impact of screening in a natural experiment by comparing prostate cancer mortality in Tyrol, where prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing was introduced at no charge, with the rest of Austria, where it was not strictly organized and not free of charge. In 1993, PSA testing was made freely available to men between the ages of 45 and 75 years in the Federal State of Tyrol, Austria. At least 70% of all of the men in this age range have been tested at least once during the first 10 years of the study. Initially, only total PSA was measured, but free PSA measurement was added in 1995. Since 2001, complexed PSA also has been measured. Digital rectal examination was not part of the screening examination. Significant migration to lower clinical and pathological stages has been observed since the introduction of this screening program. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the policy of making PSA testing freely available, and the wide acceptance by men in the population, is associated with a reduction in prostate cancer mortality in an area in which urology services and radiotherapy are available freely to all patients. It is our opinion that most of this decline is likely a result of aggressive downstaging and successful treatment and that any contribution from detecting and treating early cancers will become apparent in the years to come.