Private MD News

Experts recommend prostate cancer testing for middle-age men

Category: Prostate

Lab tests for prostate cancer are generally recommended for older men, but many experts say that younger individuals have less to gain. However, a new study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal suggests that testing may be important for men in their 50s and older.

The position is in direct opposition to recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, which said in 2008 that PSA testing is not appropriate except for seniors and those at high risk due to family history.

The Erasmus University Medical Center researchers who wrote the report said that there have been numerous indicating that prostate cancer testing reduces death rates among men between the ages of 55 and 65. This may not necessarily indicate that all men between these ages should be screened, but the researchers said doctors should identify those at high risk and test them.

"Rather than abandoning a screening test that reduces death and suffering, efforts should be focused on selecting patients more carefully," the authors wrote in their report. "Screening should be encouraged for healthy younger men and men with risk factors."