American Cancer Society updates prostate screening guidelines, urging regular PSA tests from age 50

The American Cancer Society on Thursday issued updated guidelines recommending that most men ages 50 to 69 get a PSA prostate cancer blood test every other year. Published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, they call for annual testing starting at age 45 for higher-risk men, including Black men and those with a strong family history. Men ages 70 to 74 should discuss testing with providers, based on health and life expectancy. Prior guidance had men 40 to 50 discuss testing with doctors. Dr. William Dahut, the society's chief scientific officer, said he hoped the change would raise screening among average-risk men and reduce metastatic disease and deaths while limiting harm. Prostate cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death among men, after lung cancer, and rates of advanced disease are rising.

Left-leaning NBC News leads with the rise in advanced prostate cancer, lays out each age tier including the 70-to-74 advice, and quotes Dahut on cutting metastatic disease and deaths; its headline stresses regular testing for older men. Right-leaning Washington Examiner headlines younger men and spends more space on the test's history: FDA approval in 1986, long controversy over unnecessary treatment, little past evidence of survival benefit, and a European randomized study with over 20 years of follow-up showing fewer deaths. The report's authors said that study made them confident to recommend testing emphatically. Both agree on the schedule: every other year for ages 50 to 69, annually for higher-risk groups. The difference is emphasis: NBC on disease trends and the society's goal, the Examiner on the evidence behind the change. The Hill and MarketWatch largely relay the age thresholds.