Early diagnosis of prostate cancer (PCa) is marred by a lack of consensus on the best screening strategy. Prostate specific antigen (PSA) had been in widespread use for routine PCa screening, until the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommended against routine PSA screening in 2012. The USPSTF recommendation has cut screening rates, experts say, but its recommendation is not universally accepted and screening recommendations vary substantially among major medical societies in the United States. "That there is still no clarity about the usefulness and desirability of routine PSA-based screening after 25 years and two large trials suggests that its net benefit is unlikely to be more than marginal, whereas the harms are proven and substantial." —Paul F. Pinsky, Ph.D. A benefit of PSA screening is a reduction in prostate-specific mortality. According to a review published March 30 in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) such mortality is estimated based on a "reasonable summary of the evidence" to be approximately one prostate cancer death averted per 1,000 men screened several times each and followed for 10 to 15 years. Yet, common harms associated with PSA-based diagnosis and the treatment of PCa include: anxiety, urinary incontinence, and erectile dysfunction. Benefits […]