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What men need to know after a major update to prostate cancer guidelines
PBS • • general
Key Points:
- The American Cancer Society now recommends that men at high risk for prostate cancer, including Black men and those with a strong family history, begin yearly PSA screenings at age 45 to improve early detection.
- This updated guideline reflects advances in PSA testing, emphasizing repeated tests, use of MRI to guide biopsies, and monitoring low-risk tumors to reduce overtreatment and unnecessary procedures.
- Men with a close relative diagnosed with prostate cancer before age 65, or multiple relatives diagnosed at any age, are categorized as high risk and should start annual screenings at 45; those with one relative diagnosed after 65 can screen every two years starting at 45.
- Screening is not recommended for men with poor health and less than a 10-year life expectancy, and routine screening is discouraged after age 75, with individualized decisions advised for men aged 70 to 79.
- Prostate cancer remains one of the most common cancers in men, with over 333,000 expected diagnoses and approximately 36,000 deaths projected in the U.S. in 2026.
