Middle-aged men should undergo routine prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing to identify their risk of developing prostate cancer later in life, say Swedish and US researchers.
The study
Swedish researchers analysed the association between PSA and long-term prostate cancer outcomes in men aged around 40 (n=3,979), mid to late 40s (n=10,357) or at age 44 to 51 years (n=12,1690 at baseline). It analysed PSA measurements in men with prostate cancer metastasis (cases) and compared them with controls and men not selected as controls in participants from the Malmo cohort.
The findings
After case notes were reviewed for death from prostate cancer or metastasis, some 44% (95% CI 34-53%) of deaths within 25 to 30 years occurred in men with a PSA concentration in the highest 10th of the distribution of concentrations at age 45 to 49 years (≥1.6 µg/L), with a similar proportion for the highest 10th at age 51 to 55 years (≥2.4 µg/L).
What does this mean for GPs?
The authors concluded: ‘Screening programmes can be designed to focus on men at highest risk, with three lifetime PSA tests between the ages of 45 and 60 years sufficient for at least half of the male population. This is likely to reduce the risk of overdiagnosis while still enabling early cancer detection among those most likely to gain from early diagnosis.’
