A new report in the September 15th issue of Cancer found that while one in five men received a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening in the past year, young black men were more likely to have taken the test than their white counterparts. But before you celebrate: Findings show that black men were still not getting tested, only one in three. Experts state that black men have a 60 percent higher chance of developing prostate cancer that white men.
The medical community has consistently disagreed as to when men should get PSAs—many groups suggest that men with no history of prostate cancer get tested around age 50, while The American Cancer Society suggests that black men 45 and older with a history of cancer in their family be tested every year.
“Our study is the first to specifically examine PSA screening in younger men, which provides an important assessment of quality of care, especially for high-risk groups,” the authors wrote. “Further investigation will be required to understand the impact of new risk-stratification strategies, with particular focus on the policy implications of potentially large increases in healthcare resource use.”
Read RH’s “Got Prostate?” to learn more about screenings and treatment options.
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