By David Liu, PHD

Saturday Sept 15, 2012 (foodconsumer.org) -- The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force in Rockville, Maryland issued a statement on May 21, 2012 in Annals of Internal Medicine to recommend against prostate specific antigen (PSA) based screening for prostate cancer (grade D recommendation).

The USPSTF made the recommendation after reviewing new evidence on the benefits and harms of PSA-based screening for prostate cancer and the benefits and harms of treatment  of localized prostate cancer.

The authoritative organization says this recommendation is applied to all men in the general U.S. population regardless of age.  However, this recommendation does not include use of the PSA test for monitoring prostate cancer after the disease is diagnosed or treated.

The USPSTF does not say the PSA test is good for surveillance or not, but does say the use of the PSA test for surveillance of prostate cancer after diagnosis or treatment is outside the scope of the organization. 

The USPSTTF is a scientific panel commissioned by Congress and supported by the Department of Health and Human Services and  it is "made up of 16 volunteer members who come from the fields of preventive medicine and primary care, including internal medicine, family medicine, pediatrics, behavioral health, obstetrics/gynecology, and nursing."

Studies have revealed repeatedly that using PST test to screen prostate cancer does more harm than good. It can lead to overdiagnosis of the disease and unnecessary harmful treatment.

The USPSTF recommendation is in agreement with the opinion of the discoverer of the PSA test .   That is, the method is only useful for surveillance of prostate cancer and it cannot be used as a diagnostic tool to diagnose or detect prostate cancer simply because it is not accurate enough.

This recommendation may not mean anything. Doctors and hospitals can do whatever they like to do under the guidelines given by major medical organizations.  However, it does give the public an authoritative opinion and ultimately men need to make their own decisions as to whether the PSA test as a diagnostic tool should be rejected.