Men’s Health Month and the PSA Test

Men’s Health Month and the PSA Test

Check out the new Public Service Announcement for Prostate Specific Antigen tests … (a PSA for PSA?) Happy Men’s Health Month! This announcement will be in several local and national publications, from our physicians.

Men’s Health Month: PSA Tests and Prostate Cancer

June is Men’s Health Month, and a great time to remind men about the importance of early detection of prostate cancer. Recently, certain physician groups have issued guidelines on prostate cancer screening, and some of the media coverage surrounding the release of these recommendations could unintentionally leave the impression that the early detection of prostate cancer and PSA testing are no longer important or useful. Although PSA testing has some limitations, as a urologist I believe the test remains a useful tool to help identify prostate cancer in its early stages.

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of death in American men. The revised prostate cancer screening guidelines released by the American Urological Association (“AUA”) in May emphasize the importance of continued PSA testing for men between the ages of 55 and 69 and for all men at increased risk, including African-Americans and those with a family history. For healthy men below age 55 or above age 69 with average risk factors, individual decisions about the benefits and potential harms of PSA testing need to be discussed between the patient and his physician.

We have made great progress in national prostate cancer awareness initiatives and in reaching out to men at high risk. The treatment of prostate cancer has improved at every stage and fewer deaths are attributed to the disease. For many men, early detection is clearly needed, and PSA-based screening is currently the best available tool to diagnose the disease at its most manageable stages. Men are therefore encouraged to discuss these issues with their doctors to determine whether the test is right for them.