Low-Intensity PSA-Based Screening Did Not Reduce Prostate Cancer Mortality

Applications for Clinical Practice

PSA test as a diagnostic tool for prostate cancer has significant drawbacks, and population screening strategies using this test will need to grapple with issues of misdiagnosis, overdiagnosis, and treatment that can have potential harmful consequences. The alternative of not screening is that prostate cancer may be diagnosed at later stages and more men may suffer morbidity and mortality from the disease. A better test and screening strategy are needed to balance the benefits and harms of screening so that older men may benefit from early diagnosis of prostate cancer.