Dr. Petrylak on the Role of PSA Screening in Prostate Cancer

Daniel P. Petrylak, MD, professor of medicine and urology and co-leader of Cancer Signaling Networks with Yale Cancer Center, as well as a 2017 Giant of Cancer Care^® in Genitourinary Cancers, discusses the role of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening in prostate cancer.

PSA screening can be useful in determining whether a patient has prostate cancer, explains Petrylak. However, there has been some controversy surrounding the utility of screening.

In the past, the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) gave PSA screening a D rating, meaning they recommended against it, Petrylak says.

Since then, although the rate of metastatic prostate cancer has increased, the mortality associated with the disease has decreased. According to Petrylak, this could be due in part to PSA screening.

As such, in new guidelines from the USPSTF, PSA screening has a C rating for men aged 55 to 69 and a D rating for men 70 years and older.

In Petrylak's opinion, PSA screening should only be utilized when patients are prepared to consider local therapy or other treatment options.