Routine Screening for Prostate Cancer Does Not Lower Prostate Cancer–Specific or All-Cause Mortality . . .

In 2008, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force concluded that evidence was insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening in men younger than 75 and recommended against screening older men (JW Gen Med Aug 26 2008). Most randomized trial data, however, were unavailable in 2008. Now, a meta-analysis that included three large studies published during the past 2 years (JW Gen Med Mar 18 2009 and JW Gen Med Aug 3 2010) has been completed.

In the meta-analysis, which included six randomized controlled trials that involved 390,000 asymptomatic men (age range, 45–80), investigators assessed the benefits and harms of screening for prostate cancer using PSA with or without digital rectal examina…