prostate cancer screening

The latest guidelines in screening for prostate cancer are a win for patients and physicians. Talking with your doctor about these issues is the ultimate in personalized medicine and patient autonomy.
A new paper published in the journal Open Forum Infectious Diseases showed that 3 percent of men who undergo prostate biopsies end up being hospitalized within a month. Worse, half of those hospitalizations are due to an infection – and 45 patients died.  
Actor Ben Stiller recently chronicled how early diagnosis of prostate cancer, using a routine blood test, saved his life. And he's urging all men over 40 to discuss the PSA test with their doctor. However, we here at the Council and other organizations have been critical of it, so it's fitting that we review where science stands on the issue.