PSA is a protein that’s made by the prostate. It stands for prostate-specific antigen, and it really was introduced as a marker for prostate cancer back in about 1990. It was such a good marker for cancer that they decided it might be good to use for screening for prostate cancer, and over the past 25 or 30 years, it’s been used in large part for that in addition to monitoring patients that have had and been treated for prostate cancer.

PSA has been used for screening for many years. Back in 2012, the U.S. Public Service Task Force came out with a recommendation that prostate screening might not be in order for every patient. There was some dispute with other organizations including the American Cancer Society and the American Urological Association. Part of the reason for that recommendation was that there might be false positive tests, that some people are submitted to unnecessary biopsies, and that prostate cancer itself involves treatment options that have potential complications or side effects. However, in the past year, the U.S. Task Force has amended that recommendation so that men that are between the ages of 50 and 69 should consider screening on an individual basis after they understand the potential benefits and risks of doing the screening and prostate cancer diagnosis.

The recommendations for prostate cancer screening is to begin at age 50 for most men, and typically the age range is between 50 and 70 to 75. There are two potential high-risk groups for prostate cancer, and those are African American men and men that have a immediate family history such as father or brother, and those people should probably be screened earlier. Typically we advise African American men to start screening at age 45, and if a patient has had an immediate family member with prostate cancer, we ask them to get a baseline PSA at age 40 and then begin regular screening at age 45.

If you’re a man between the ages of 50 and 70 or certainly if you have any family history of prostate cancer or if you might be African American, we feel like prostate cancer screenings is in order with PSA check and prostate examination. Contact our office to arrange for an appointment in order to have appropriate counsel and prostate cancer screening.