Current Status in PSA Screening

, Seock Hwan Choi; , Tae Gyun Kwon

Review Article

The Korean Journal of Urological Oncology 2013;11(1):1-5.
Published online April 30, 2013.

전립선암 선별검사로서 PSA의 유용성

최석환, 권태균

경북대학교 의과대학 비뇨기과학교실

Current Status in PSA Screening

Seock Hwan Choi , Tae Gyun Kwon

Department of Urology, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Korea

Correspondence: Tae Gyun Kwon

Abstract

The rapid and widespread use of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening into clinical field was based on the assumption that PSA may increase the chance of earlier detection and cure of prostate cancer with minimal harms. In US, the introduction of PSA testing nearly doubled the lifetime risk of receiving a diagnosis of prostate cancer. However, many studies reported that PSA screening also can increase overdiagnosis and subsequent overtreatment. To evaluate the value of PSA screening on prostate cancer mortality, numerous studies have been conducted with contradictory results. Moreover, most of them were not randomized, controlled study. Recently, early results of two large, randomized, controlled trials of screening have published. A European study showed a modest decrease in prostate-cancer mortality, whereas a United States study showed no decrease in prostate-cancer mortality. Considering these inconsistent results of trials, men considering prostate-cancer screening should be informed about the potential benefits and harms of screening and early treatment. In this article, we address the current status and value of PSA screening with the review of the literature on PSA screening for prostate cancer. (Korean J Urol Oncol 2013;11:1-5)

Key Words: Prostate-specific antigen, Prostate cancer, Early detection of cancer