VIDEO: Important updates in screening for pancreatic, breast and prostate cancer

NEW ORLEANS — In this video, Alan Dow, MD, MSHA, FACP, discusses evolving cancer screening guidelines and the controversies surrounding some of them.

The first screening update involved pancreatic cancer.

“In patients who have a family history of pancreatic cancer or some other risk factors for it, it is recommended that they have annual screening, and that annual screening includes an MRI and an endoscopic ultrasound evaluation,” Dow, a Ruth and Seymour Perlin Professor of Medicine and Health Administration at Virginia Commonwealth University and a Healio Primary Care Peer Perspective Board member, said.

For breast cancer screening, although the guidelines “don’t quite align,” Dow said “it’s pretty clear now we should start screening at the age of 40 [years] with at least biannual or probably annual screening.”

Dow added that in women with denser breast tissue, “we should strongly consider additional screening with ultrasound or some other kind of imaging.”

The final highlight was about the predictive value of prostate-specific antigen testing for prostate cancer.

“Your PSA at the age of 45 can actually predict your risk for prostate cancer development down the road,” Dow said.

Reference:

• Dow A. Clinical triad: Advances in cancer screening. Presented at: ACP Internal Medicine Meeting; April 3-5, 2025; New Orleans.

For more information:

Alan Dow, MD, MSHA, FACP, Ruth and Seymour Perlin Professor of Medicine and Health Administration at Virginia Commonwealth University, can be reached at primarycare@healio.com.