“The AAFP and USPSTF recommendations on the topic share similarities, but whereas the UPSTF statement is rather ambiguous about whether it recommends screening for men ages 55-69, the AAFP clearly states that it does not recommend routine PSA-based prostate cancer screening.”
The article continues:
“it’s estimated that after 13 years, of 1,000 men ages 55-69 who were screened for prostate cancer, 100 will be diagnosed with the disease.
“As the result of early treatment, 1.3 men will avoid dying of prostate cancer, while five men will die of prostate cancer despite treatment,” the recommendation said. “It is also estimated that screening will result in three fewer cases of metastatic prostate cancer.”
Additionally, the Academy said that although the mortality benefit of prostate cancer screening results from early treatment, it is the treatment of prostate cancer that causes the most serious harms.
“These potential harms are particularly concerning given the high rate of overdiagnosis associated with prostate cancer screening,” the recommendation noted. “Overdiagnosis involves the diagnosis of asymptomatic cancer that never would have resulted in symptoms or death.”
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