Prostate Cancer Screening Test (PSA)…A Waste of Time!

• No level of Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) completely excludes prostate cancer.
• The prevalence of undiagnosed prostate cancer at autopsy is high and increases with age (> 40% among men aged 40-49 yr to > 70% among men aged 70-79 yr)
• Only a small proportion of men with prostate cancer have symptoms or die from the disease; most prostate cancers are slowly progressive and NOT LIFE THREATENING.
• Screening with the PSA test may lead to a small reduction in prostate cancer death but NOT a reduction in all-cause death rate.

The PSA test should NOT be used for screening without a detailed discussion with the patient, ideally with the use of decision aids to facilitate comprehension.