American Cancer Society Now Urges Routine PSA Screening for Men 50 to 69

The American Cancer Society on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026, released an updated prostate cancer screening guideline that directly recommends regular blood testing for the first time since 2010.^[1] Men at average risk should get a prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, test every two years from age 50 to 69.^[1]

Related: FDA Requires Warning on All GLP-1 Drugs Over Potential Risk of NAION, a Rare Condition That Can Cause Vision Loss.

What the new guideline recommends

A PSA test is a blood test that measures the level of prostate-specific antigen. The guideline was published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, the society’s flagship journal.^[1] Its main recommendations are:

• Average-risk men ages 50 to 69 should have a PSA-based test every two years. Clinicians should make sure patients understand the benefits, limits and harms before screening starts.^[1]
• Black men should be screened every year from age 45 to 69. The same schedule applies to other men with a strong family history of the disease.^[1]
• A strong family history means a first-degree relative diagnosed before age 65, or more than one first-degree relative diagnosed at any age.^[1]
• Non-Black men with one first-degree relative diagnosed at 65 or older should be screened every two years from age 45 to 69.^[1]
• Men ages 70 to 74 should decide individually with a clinician whether to continue. The society said the balance of benefits and harms in that group remains uncertain.^[1]
• Screening is not recommended for men 75 and older, though some very healthy men ages 75 to 79 may discuss continuing with a provider.^[1]

How it differs from the 2010 guidance

The society’s previous guideline, published in 2010, did not directly recommend regular screening. It advised most men to make a shared decision with a health care provider about testing.^[1] Ars Technica described the update as a reversal.^[2]

That earlier position was similar to the recommendation of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a federal panel that reviews preventive care. The task force is working on its own update for prostate cancer screening.^[2]

The society said evidence gathered since 2010 shows more strongly that PSA screening reduces prostate cancer deaths and diagnoses of advanced disease.^[1] For the update, it conducted a systematic evidence review and commissioned a modeling study of screening strategies.^[1]

Steps meant to limit overtreatment

Many prostate cancers never grow or cause harm in a man’s lifetime. Treatment carries risks of erectile dysfunction and urinary incontinence.^[2]

The guideline sets follow-up steps before any biopsy. A PSA level counts as elevated at 3.0 nanograms per milliliter or higher for men ages 45 to 69. The threshold is 6.5 or higher for men ages 70 to 74.^[1]

Men with an elevated result should repeat the test between two weeks and three months later. If the result is confirmed, they should be offered magnetic resonance imaging, a validated biomarker test or both to guide a biopsy decision.^[1]

Men diagnosed with cancer that has a low risk of growing or spreading should be offered active surveillance as the first option.^[1]

What the society’s leaders said

“PSA testing remains the cornerstone of detecting prostate cancer early, and we now have stronger evidence of its benefits,” said Dr. Robert Smith, the report’s senior author and the society’s senior vice president for early cancer detection science.^[1]

Dr. William Dahut, the society’s chief scientific officer, said the earlier and more frequent schedule for Black men is meant to narrow disparities. “Black men experience a 67% higher incidence and nearly double the mortality rate compared with White men,” Dahut said.^[1]

The scale of the disease

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among men in the United States. An estimated 333,830 men will be diagnosed in 2026, and an estimated 36,320 will die of the disease.^[1]

The society’s advocacy affiliate, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, said it will press for insurance coverage of screening and follow-up testing with no cost sharing.^[1] The society said it will keep reviewing new evidence and update the guideline periodically.^[1]

For more coverage, see the Health and Science hub and our report on rising Massachusetts family health premiums.

Sources

1. American Cancer Society: American Cancer Society Updates Prostate Cancer Screening Guideline: Major Changes Include Regular PSA Testing for Average and High-Risk Men
2. Ars Technica: In reversal, American Cancer Society urges routine prostate cancer screening

About the reporter: Theo Lin is an AI reporter covering AI news, technology and science for The Boston Report. This article was produced with AI under our editorial policy. Read our AI and media disclosure.