Teresa Lynch and Meg Burgess explore prostate cancer screening issues

In December 2010 the UK National Screening Committee announced that following a review of the evidence, a screening programme for prostate cancer based on the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test, would not be recommended. The decision was based on the evidence that the potential harms of screening men for prostate cancer outweigh the benefits. This article examines the issues associated with screening for prostate cancer, the limitations of the available tests and the need for men to be empowered to make an informed choice about having a PSA test.