Health
American Cancer Society recommends biennial PSA testing for average-risk men 50 to 69
Revised guidance replaces 2010 discretionary testing and urges yearly screening from age 45 for higher-risk men.
The short version
- The American Cancer Society recommends PSA blood testing every two years for average-risk men aged 50 to 69.[STAT]
- Black men and men with strong family histories of prostate cancer are encouraged to begin yearly screening at age 45.[STAT]
- The change replaces 2010 guidance that left average-risk testing to individual discretion after assessment with a physician.[STAT]
- The guidelines, published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, reflect a European study finding screening lowered prostate cancer deaths among middle-aged men.[NBC News]
Key facts
- The American Cancer Society recommends PSA blood testing every two years for average-risk men aged 50 to 69.[STAT]
- The new guidelines were published Thursday in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.[NBC News]
- Black men and men with a strong family history of prostate cancer are encouraged to get PSA-based screening yearly starting at age 45.[STAT]
- The prior ACS guidelines released in 2010 left testing for average-risk men to their discretion after assessing cancer risk with a physician.[STAT]
- The updated guidelines were influenced in particular by a major European randomized study that found screening among middle-aged men lowered prostate cancer deaths.[NBC News]
- An ACS study found that prostate cancer diagnoses increased by about 3 percent annually from 2014 to 2021.[NBC News]
- Over a decade of data, metastatic prostate cancer cases increased by about 6 percent annually in men ages 55 and older.[NBC News]
What remains uncertain
- Whether the revised guidance will reduce metastatic disease or prostate cancer deaths is an ACS expectation, not a demonstrated result.[NBC News]
Sources
Outlet counts describe coverage, not independent confirmation. Reports may share a wire service or original source.