The case for tailored prostate cancer screening: An NCCN perspective

Abstract

A preponderance of clinical evidence supports a significant public health benefit for screening and early detection of prostate cancer in selected men. The challenge lies in maximizing early diagnosis of potentially aggressive but curable disease while minimizing diagnosis and treatment of indolent disease. A tailored approach to population screening in appropriately counseled men, using an evidence-based strategy with judicious prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing, will reduce prostate-cancer mortality yet limit overdetection of clinically insignificant disease. Use of newer biomarkers that increase specificity for prostate cancer detection, including percentage of free PSA, 4Kscore, prostate health index, prostate cancer antigen 3, and multiparametric MRI may be considered under certain circumstances.