To be candid, as of April 2008, we don’t have a good answer to this question. The only truly accurate answer that we can offer is, “Maybe.”
As discussed elsewhere on this site, data from the Tyrol region of Austria and from King County in Washington state suggest (but cannot absolutely confirm) that population screening for prostate cancer can reduce prostate cancer-specific mortality. However, we are going to need more data before this possibility can be confirmed.
Even though there is a major ongoing clinical trial that includes resolution of this question as one of its key objectives, we would be unwise to think that this trial (the so-called PCLO trial) will definitely give us a “yeah” or “nay” answer to this question.
Until we have such an answer, the only option for each man is to make his own decisions about regular (or even occasional) PSA and DRE testing if he is concerned about his risk for prostate cancer. Decisions about such testing are best taken in consultation with the individual patient’s physician(s).
You may also want to be aware of the early data that suggests the possibility that a single PSA test level, taken from men in early middle age (i.e., between 35 and 50), may provide an indicator of long-term risk for prostate cancer over the next 25 years.
