Study: Some May Need Only 1 PSA Test

Men with a very low score on their first prostate cancer test may not benefit from further tests, a new study suggests. Researchers used data from two large European studies. They included more than 86,000 men, ages 55 to 74. Men were given a test for prostate-specific antigen (PSA). All men in the study had a PSA level below 20 nanograms per milliliter (ng/ml). In the next 8 to 9 years, 5,861 developed prostate cancer. Cancer death rates were highest in those who had a PSA of 10 to 19.9 ng/ml on their first test. In this group, researchers calculated, 1 life would be saved for every 133 men who got future PSA tests and treatment of any cancers. The benefits were much smaller for men who had a PSA of zero to 1.9 ng/ml at the start of the study. In this group, 24,642 men would have to be tested and 724 cases of prostate cancer treated to save 1 life.