Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2024 Jul 31;14(8):818.
doi: 10.3390/jpm14080818.

Prostate Cancer Screening in Young Men

Maxime De Vrieze  1 , Rouvier Al-Monajjed  1   2 , Matthias Boschheidgen  3 , Peter Albers  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Prostate Cancer Screening in Young Men

Maxime De Vrieze et al. J Pers Med. .

Abstract

Background: Prostate cancer (PCa) screening strategies are being developed and evaluated in several countries. However, most of the evidence regarding PCa screening has been generated in study populations aged 50 and older. Aims: This study summarizes findings of a screening trial in younger men and discuss those findings in the context of other screening trials. Methods: Non-systematic review. Results: Screening of 45-year-old men resulted in a low PCa detection rate. Nonetheless, almost 70% of screen-detected PCa at this age was clinically significant. In young men ISUP GG 1 screen-detected cancers warrant rigorous follow-up. A baseline, midlife prostate-specific antigen (PSA) value at age 45 may safely exclude the vast majority of men from further screening investigations for at least 5 years. At age 45, a confirmatory PSA value reduces the number of subsequent tests almost by half. Sequential magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as a reflex test subsequent to an elevated PSA ≥ 3 ng/mL needs further investigation in young men. Conclusions: Screening in young men needs to be carefully investigated in order to avoid overscreening and overdiagnosis.

Keywords: PSA; baseline PSA; multiparametric MRI; prostate cancer; prostate cancer screening; risk-adapted screening.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

References

    1. Vickers A., O’brien F., Montorsi F., Galvin D., Bratt O., Carlsson S., Catto J.W., Krilaviciute A., Philbin M., Albers P. Current policies on early detection of prostate cancer create overdiagnosis and inequity with minimal benefit. BMJ. 2023;381:e071082. doi: 10.1136/bmj-2022-071082. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Hugosson J., Roobol M.J., Månsson M., Tammela T.L., Zappa M., Nelen V., Kwiatkowski M., Lujan M., Carlsson S.V., Talala K.M., et al. A 16-yr Follow-up of the European Randomized study of Screening for Prostate Cancer. Eur. Urol. 2019;76:43–51. doi: 10.1016/j.eururo.2019.02.009. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. De Vos I.I., Meertens A., Hogenhout R., Remmers S., Roobol M.J., ERSPC Rotterdam Study Group A Detailed Evaluation of the Effect of Prostate-specific Antigen-based Screening on Morbidity and Mortality of Prostate Cancer: 21-year Follow-up Results of the Rotterdam Section of the European Randomised Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer. Eur. Urol. 2023;84:426–434. doi: 10.1016/j.eururo.2023.03.016. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Van Poppel H., Hogenhout R., Albers P., van den Bergh R.C., Barentsz J.O., Roobol M.J. Early Detection of Prostate Cancer in 2020 and Beyond: Facts and Recommendations for the European Union and the European Commission. Eur. Urol. 2021;79:327–329. doi: 10.1016/j.eururo.2020.12.010. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Godtman R.A., Holmberg E., Lilja H., Stranne J., Hugosson J. Opportunistic testing versus organized prostate-specific antigen screening: Outcome after 18 years in the Goteborg randomized population-based prostate cancer screening trial. Eur. Urol. 2015;68:354–360. doi: 10.1016/j.eururo.2014.12.006. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources