The most commonly recommended method for prostate cancer screening in a 55 year old male is Quizlet

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Possible Benefits of Screening
Possible Harms
Possible Harm from Screening
Possible Harms from Diagnosis
Possible Harms from Treatment
Screening information for prostate cancer

Dr. Alex Krist, vice chair of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, provides an overview of the Task Force’s prostate cancer screening recommendation in this video.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (Task Force) is an organization made up of doctors and disease experts who look at research on the best way to prevent diseases and make recommendations on how doctors can help patients avoid diseases or find them early.

The Task Force made the following recommendations about prostate cancer screening—

Men who are 55 to 69 years old should make individual decisions about being screened for prostate cancer with a prostate specific antigen (PSA) test.
Before making a decision, men should talk to their doctor about the benefits and harms of screening for prostate cancer, including the benefits and harms of other tests and treatment.
Men who are 70 years old and older should not be screened for prostate cancer routinely.

The goal of screening for prostate cancer is to find cancers that may be at high risk for spreading if not treated, and to find them early before they spread. However, most prostate cancers grow slowly or not at all.

Possible Benefits of Screening

The benefits of screening for prostate cancer may include—

Finding prostate cancers that may be at high risk of spreading, so that they can be treated before they spread. This may lower the chance of death from prostate cancer in some men.
Some men prefer to know if they have prostate cancer.

Possible Harms

Facts About Prostate Cancer Screening

For every 1,000 men between the ages of 55 and 69 years old who are screened, about 1 death will be prevented, and 3 men will be prevented from getting prostate cancer that spreads to other places in the body.
Many men with prostate cancer never experience symptoms and, without screening, would never know they had the disease.

The possible harms of screening for prostate cancer include harms from screening, diagnosis, and treatment.

Possible Harm from Screening

False positive test results: This occurs when a man has an abnormal PSA test but does not have prostate cancer. False positive test results often lead to unnecessary tests, like a biopsy of the prostate. They may cause men to worry about their health. Older men are more likely to have false positive test results.

Possible Harms from Diagnosis

Screening finds prostate cancer in some men who would never have had symptoms from their cancer in their lifetime. Treatment of men who would not have had symptoms or died from prostate cancer can cause them to have complications from treatment, but not benefit from treatment. This is called overdiagnosis.

Prostate cancer is diagnosed with a prostate biopsy. A biopsy is when a small piece of tissue is removed from the prostate and looked at under a microscope to see if there are cancer cells. Older men are more likely to have a complication after a prostate biopsy.

A prostate biopsy can cause—

Pain.
Blood in the semen or ejaculate.
Infection.

Possible Harms from Treatment

The most common treatments for prostate cancer are surgery to remove the prostate and radiation therapy.

The most common harms from prostate cancer treatment are—

Urinary incontinence (accidental leakage of urine). About 1 out of every 5 men who have surgery to remove the prostate loses bladder control.
Erectile dysfunction (impotence). About 2 out of every 3 men who have surgery to remove the prostate become impotent, and about half of men who receive radiation therapy become impotent.
Bowel problems, including fecal incontinence (accidental leakage of bowel movements) and urgency (sudden and uncontrollable urge to have a bowel movement). About 1 out of every 6 men who has radiation therapy has bowel problems.

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Prostate Cancer: Screening

ON THIS PAGE: You will find out more about screening for prostate cancer. You will also learn the risks and benefits of screening. Use the menu to see other pages.

Screening is used to look for cancer before you have any symptoms or signs. When cancer is found earlier in its development, it is often at an earlier stage. This means that there is a better chance of successfully treating the cancer. Scientists have developed, and continue to develop, tests that can be used to screen a person for specific types of cancer. The overall goals of cancer screening are to:

Lower the number of people who die from the disease, or eliminate deaths from cancer altogether
Lower the number of people who develop the disease

Learn more about the basics of cancer screening.

Screening information for prostate cancer

Screening for prostate cancer is done to find evidence of cancer in otherwise healthy adults. Two tests are commonly used to screen for prostate cancer:

Digital rectal examination (DRE)

A DRE is a test in which the doctor inserts a gloved, lubricated finger into the rectum and feels the surface of the prostate through the bowel wall for any irregularities.

PSA blood test

There is controversy about using the PSA test to look for prostate cancer in people with no symptoms of the disease. On the one hand, the PSA test is useful for detecting early-stage prostate cancer, especially in those with many risk factors, which helps some get the treatment they need before the cancer grows and spreads. On the other hand, PSA screening may find very-slow-growing prostate cancers that would never threaten someone's life. As a result, screening for prostate cancer using PSA may lead to treatments that are not needed, which can cause side effects and seriously affect a person's quality of life.

ASCO recommends that people with no symptoms of prostate cancer and who are expected to live less than 10 years do not receive PSA screening. For those expected to live longer than 10 years, ASCO recommends that they talk with their doctor to find out if the test is appropriate for them.

Other organizations have different recommendations for screening:

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends that adults between 55 and 69 should discuss the pros and cons of PSA screening with their doctor before making a decision about screening. People who are 70 and older should not have routine PSA screenings for prostate cancer.
The American Urological Association and the American Cancer Society recommend that people be told the risks and benefits of testing before PSA screening occurs and then make an informed decision in consultation with their doctor.
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) considers a patient’s age, PSA value, DRE results, and other factors in their recommendations. Based on those risk factors and test results, repeat screening tests may be recommended every 2 to 4 years or 1 to 2 years.

It is not easy to predict which tumors will grow and spread quickly and which will grow slowly. Everyone should discuss with their doctor the pros and cons of prostate cancer screening based on their situation and personal risk of prostate cancer, so they can work together to make an informed decision.

The next section in this guide is Symptoms and Signs. It explains what body changes or medical problems prostate cancer can cause. Use the menu to choose a different section to read in this guide.

The American Cancer Society (ACS) recommends that men have a chance to make an informed decision with their health care provider about whether to be screened for prostate cancer. The decision should be made after getting information about the uncertainties, risks, and potential benefits of prostate cancer screening. Men should not be screened unless they have received this information. The discussion about screening should take place at:

Age 50 for men who are at average risk of prostate cancer and are expected to live at least 10 more years.
Age 45 for men at high risk of developing prostate cancer. This includes African Americans and men who have a first-degree relative (father or brother) diagnosed with prostate cancer at an early age (younger than age 65).
Age 40 for men at even higher risk (those with more than one first-degree relative who had prostate cancer at an early age).

After this discussion, men who want to be screened should get the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test. The digital rectal exam (DRE) may also be done as a part of screening. (See Screening Tests for Prostate Cancer.)

If, after this discussion, a man is unable to decide if testing is right for him, the screening decision can be made by the health care provider, who should take into account the man’s general health preferences and values.

If no prostate cancer is found as a result of screening, the time between future screenings depends on the results of the PSA blood test:

Men who choose to be tested who have a PSA of less than 2.5 ng/mL may only need to be retested every 2 years.
Screening should be done yearly for men whose PSA level is 2.5 ng/mL or higher.

Because prostate cancer often grows slowly, men without symptoms of prostate cancer who do not have a 10-year life expectancy should not be offered testing since they are not likely to benefit. Overall health status, and not age alone, is important when making decisions about screening.

Even after a decision about testing has been made, the discussion about the pros and cons of testing should be repeated as new information about the benefits and risks of testing becomes available. Further discussions are also needed to take into account changes in a man’s health, values, and preferences.

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in many elective procedures being put on hold, and this has led to a substantial decline in cancer screening. Health care facilities are providing cancer screening during the pandemic with many safety precautions in place. Learn how you can talk to your doctor and what steps you can take to plan, schedule, and get your regular cancer screenings in Cancer Screening During the COVID-19 Pandemic