Rates of early prostate cancer have continued to decline since the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommended against routine prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing in all men in 2012, according to an article published online August 18 in JAMA Oncology.
Lead author Ahmedin Jemal, PhD, and colleagues from the American Cancer Society used Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) prostate cancer incidence data for the years 2005 to 2013. They included patients who were 50 years and older (JAMA Oncol, August 18, 2016).
Between 2012 and 2013, localized/regional-stage prostate cancer incidence rates per 100,000 men declined from 356 to 335 in those 50 to 74 years old, and from 379 to 353 in men 75 and older, the group found.
The findings confirm a continuing trend, as previous studies have suggested that PSA testing rates decreased significantly between 2010 and 2013, according to the authors. The USPSTF in 2012 rescinded its recommendation for routine PSA testing, citing false positives and overdiagnosis from the test.
Whether this pattern will lead to a future increase in the diagnosis of distant-stage disease and prostate cancer mortality requires further study because of the slow-growing nature of the disease, the researchers concluded.
