On 12 November 2021, the Cancer Society organised a webinar with Professor Ross Lawrenson about PSA testing for prostate cancer.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in New Zealand. There is no prostate cancer screening programme, but the Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) test is commonly requested by a man or offered by a doctor. The PSA test is not a perfect screening tool, and its use can lead to over diagnosis and unintended harms for some men. That is why the Cancer Society recommends that men without symptoms discuss the pros and cons with their doctor before deciding to get a test or not.
Ross Lawrenson is Professor of Population Health at the University of Waikato and Population Advisor, Strategy, Investment and Transformation at Waikato District Health Board. He is a Board member for PHARMAC. Previous roles include: Chair of the National Screening Advisory Committee, Principal Investigator for the Midland Prostate Cancer study and member of the MoH Prostate Cancer Taskforce.
He has done research on improving health care outcomes through primary care and published more than 200 papers on diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer.
Ross was an expert reviewer of our position statement on PSA testing available here.
Webinar outline: Speaker presentation (approx 30 mins), Q&A (approx 30 mins)
Professor Ross Lawrenson's presentation is available here.