Our Stance on U.S. Preventative Screening Task Force for PSA Testing

The urologists of Somerset Urological Associates strongly disagree with the new recommendations of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force against PSA (prostate-specific antigen) testing. These recommendations do a great disservice to men and may lead to higher death rates from prostate cancer in the U.S.

No urologists or oncologists participated in the formulation of recommendations by this task force.  The physicians who constitute this body do not and have not directly treated prostate disease or prostate cancer.  In fact, this same task force recommended against mammography for women under 50 years of age.  Breast cancer experts refuted those recommendations.

Prostate cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death of men in the United States accounting for 30,000 deaths annually.  Fortunately, deaths from prostate cancer have steadily declined since widespread PSA testing began.  Also, far fewer men now develop painful advanced prostate cancer.

However, not all prostate cancers are aggressive and therefore not all prostate cancers require treatment.  In order to decide if one’s prostate cancer requires treatment or merely surveillance, it is important to differentiate between dangerous and more slow- growing cancers.  To make this distinction, we recommend a prostate biopsy if one’s PSA is abnormal or if one’s prostate examination is suspicious.  By having prostate tissue to analyze, we can decide if a man needs treatment, and if so, which treatment would be best.

Prostate cancer screening with PSA testing saves lives.  It enables the patient and his urologist to identify a potentially dangerous prostate cancer.  With biopsy results in hand, the patient and his urologist can make a decision about treatment from a position of knowledge.

No one can dispute that the PSA test has limitations, but when used and interpreted appropriately, the test provides valuable information in the diagnosis, pre-treatment staging, risk assessment and monitoring of prostate cancer patients.

Consistent with our philosophy at Somerset Urological Associates, the American Urological Association recommends that the best decisions regarding prostate cancer testing come from individualized discussions between a man and his urologist.

The recent task force recommendations about PSA screening are misguided and irresponsible.   There are many men in this community who would tell you that a PSA test saved their lives.