A Tool for Shared Decision Making on Referral for Prostate Biopsy in the Primary Care Setting: Integrating Risks of Cancer with Life Expectancy

A group of researchers from The Netherlands have developed a prediction tool that provides advice for GPs on whether to refer a patient for further assessment of possible prostate cancer. The tool predicts the risk of the presence of clinically significant prostate cancer and was developed using data from four trials, which had sample sizes from 700 to nearly 20,000 patients. Though requiring further validation, the proposed tool can help GPs triage patients for timely and necessary referral, assisting in reducing unnecessary testing, over-diagnosis, and subsequent overtreatment for prostate cancer. Read the full article.