Many Men Getting Unnecessary Prostate Cancer Blood Tests

(Page 3)

Thompson believes that PSA testing should be a part of a total patient evaluation that includes age, a family history of prostate cancer, and whether or not the patient has had a previous biopsy for prostate cancer.

"Men need to read up on the advantages and disadvantages of PSA screening," Thompson said. "Guidelines are only guidelines," he said. Thompson noted that half the men who die from prostate cancer are in their 80s.

"To just say that after 75 you can't have a PSA test doesn't fit with what we know about the biology of the disease, the frequency of the disease, and the risk of the disease," Thompson said.

More information

For more information on the risk for prostate cancer, visit the U.S. National Cancer Institute.