Very few middle-aged men are discussing prostate cancer screening with their doctor, even though they face a decision whether or not to be tested, a new study says.
Only about 6 percent of men have had a documented discussion with their primary care doctor about prostate cancer screening, even though guidelines recommend this talk for all men between 55 and 69 years of age, researchers reported recently in the Southern Medical Journal.
“One of the biggest takeaways was the surprisingly low rate of documented shared decision-making conversations,” lead researcher Dr. Nicholas Shungu, a family medicine doctor at Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), said in a news release.
“The other key finding was that when those conversations were documented, screening was much more likely to occur,” he added.
In fact, screening doubled among men who talked it over with their doctor, compared to those who didn’t, results showed.
Unlike mammograms or colonoscopies, prostate cancer screening is not universally recommended for all middle-aged men, researchers said in background notes.
Instead, guidelines recommend that men discuss screening with their doctor and make an informed choice based on their personal preferences.
That’s because the PSA (prostate-specific antigen) blood test used for screening is not perfect, researchers said.
The prostate naturally produces more PSA as men age, which can raise blood levels even if cancer isn’t present. Some men without cancer might wind up undergoing unnecessary biopsies due to a high PSA level.
In addition, many prostate cancers grow slowly and might never cause symptoms or become life-threatening, researchers said. If these are not treated, men might needlessly wind up with problems like incontinence or erectile dysfunction.
However, the landscape has changed in recent years, Shungu said. Newer tools like non-invasive prostate MRI can help doctors judge whether a patient needs further testing, and many low-risk cancers can be safely monitored through active surveillance.
These advances — and a recent uptick in prostate cancer cases — mean it’s more important than ever for men to discuss screening with their doctor.
“We’ve moved away from the idea that everyone should automatically be screened or not be screened,” Shungu said. “The recommendation now is that patients and clinicians have a discussion and decide together what’s right for that individual.”
To see whether those conversations are taking place, researchers reviewed medical records for 600 men aged 45 to 69 who were treated at MUSC family medicine clinics in 2019 and 2020.
“Different guideline organizations recommend slightly different ages to start screening discussions, particularly for higher-risk groups such as Black men,” Shungu said. “We wanted to be fairly broad in who we included so we could capture the population for whom these conversations should be taking place.”
Results showed that only 6 percent of men had a documented discussion, although researchers noted that some talks might have taken place without a doctor noting so in medical records.
When a discussion did take place, nearly 72 percent of all men and 85 percent of Black men got a PSA test, researchers found.
When men and their doctors didn’t talk, only about a third (36 percent) got a PSA test.
“When these conversations occurred, most men decided they wanted to be screened,” Shungu said. “That tells us these discussions really matter.”
Men can take the initiative and bring it up themselves during an office visit, he said.
“A lot of people assume that if their doctor doesn’t bring up prostate cancer screening, it must not be important. But sometimes there just isn’t enough time during a visit,” Shungu said. “Patients are always going to be their own best advocates and should feel empowered to ask about it and make sure the conversation happens so they can make the most informed choice possible.”
More information
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has more on prostate cancer screening guidelines.
SOURCE: Medical University of South Carolina, news release, June 22, 2026
By subscribing, you consent to receive emails from BlackDoctor.pro You may unsubscribe at any time. Privacy Policy & Terms of Service.
Are you a healthcare professional? Register with us today!