Survey of the rate of PSA testing in general practice

Abstract

The use of prostate specific antigen (PSA) test could have a large impact on the incidence of prostate cancer in the UK. Over a period of 1 year (1999), 3.5% out of 160 015 men aged >45 on a GP database, who had no previous record of prostate cancer, had a PSA test. Of the tested men, 21.3% had a PSA >4 ng/ml. Future data need to distinguish between men with and without symptoms. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign.