Screening for prostate cancer. How can patients give informed consent?

Abstract

Many urologists in North America are increasingly enthusiastic about prostatic cancer screening. Annual digital rectal examination is almost universally endorsed, and prostate-specific antigen testing is favored by most. But doctors really should not screen by either method without patients' informed consent. However, the information required for informed consent is complex and contradictory, difficult for physicians to give and for patients to absorb.