Prostate Specific Antigen toolkit: 2nd supplement to PSA screening and testing for prostate cancer (2016)

March 1, 2016

Read an update from March 2016 about PSA screening and testing for prostate cancer based on available evidence

This document is a supplement to the PSA toolkit: PSA screening and testing for prostate cancer published online in July 2009. The document gives an update on the longer-term follow-up for the European Randomized Screening Trial of Prostate Cancer (ERSPC), published in December 2014.

The 2009 “PSA toolkit: PSA screening and testing for prostate cancer” was published and distributed to provide background information regarding PSA screening and testing (opportunistic screening, case-finding, or ad-hoc testing). The toolkit summarized the long-awaited results of two major trials on prostate cancer screening. The toolkit also delivered the expert panel’s conclusion. The panel recommended not expanding PSA screening practices beyond the current ad hoc situation and doing so may produce net harm.

The additional follow-up data published in 2012 for the U.S. National Cancer Institute’s Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial and at the end of 2014 for the ERSPC trial, show stable results for prostate cancer deaths over longer periods of time.

Based on the available evidence, the expert panel’s recommendation against expanding PSA screening remains relevant as of March 2016.

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