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From: Andy Whitman [mailto:Andrew.Whitman@varian.com]
Sent: Monday, October 10, 2011 9:47 AM
To: Mike Smith
Subject: FW: US Preventative Task Force recommendations on prostate screening and treatment

FYI.

From: Tim Guertin
Sent: Saturday, October 08, 2011 5:58 PM
To: letters@nytimes.com
Cc: Spencer Sias; Dick Levy
Subject: US Preventative Task Force recommendations on prostate screening and treatment

To the editor:
We strenuously disagree with the US Preventive Services Task Force<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/p/preventive_services_task_force/index.html?inline=nyt-org>'s draft recommendation to stop prostate screening for healthy men, as reported by Gardiner Harris. While we agree that PSA as a screening tool has flaws, the panel's recommendations are even more flawed because they rely on antiquated outcomes data. Prostate cancer still kills 33,000 men annually in the US. The solution for imperfect tests and imperfect treatments is to develop better tests and better treatments, not to perform no tests and no treatment. Many recent improvements have been made in treating this terrible disease. The task force has ignored recent advances, especially those using radiation therapy and radiosurgery, which are now saving thousands more lives with reduced treatment side-effects. While it may be flawed, PSA testing remains a life saving tool. Rather than abolishing screening and treatment, this panel should demand research into better tests and better treatments.

Timothy Guertin
CEO, Varian Medical Systems
tim.guertin@varian.com<mailto:tim.guertin@varian.com>

Dr. John Adler, M.D.
Dorothy and T.K. Chan Professor,
Stanford University
jra@stanford.edu<mailto:jra@stanford.edu