PSA Testing for Prostate Cancer: Why it Matters

Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men in the United States, and early diagnosis is key.

To help detect prostate cancer, Isaac Y. Kim, MD, PhD, chair of urology at Yale Medicine, recommends that men be screened with a PSA (prostate-specific antigen) blood test.

PSA is a protein that the prostate produces, and while an elevated PSA test result can be a sign of prostate cancer, it’s not definitive. Furthermore, PSA screening can be controversial because of concerns about overdiagnosis and overtreatment.

“Nevertheless, it’s the best test that we have at this point in time, and I would recommend that all men over age 40 have a PSA test,” Dr. Kim says.

If a 40-year-old man is tested and his PSA is less than 1 nanogram per milliliter (ng/mL), then he should not need another test for 10 years, unless something changes with his health to cause concern, Dr. Kim says.

In general, a PSA level over 4 ng/mL is considered abnormal. For anything over 2 ng/mL, Dr. Kim suggests an earlier follow-up.

In the video above, Dr. Kim talks more about the PSA test and how treatment should be tailored to each patient.