The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force moved away from its previous stance against routine prostate cancer screening in a draft recommendation issued Tuesday.
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The federal task force now says men between ages 55 and 69 should decide individually if they want to be screened, following discussion with a clinician. The task force recommended that clinicians talk with men ages 55 to 69 about the potential pros and cons of such screening.
"Screening offers a small potential benefit of reducing the chance of dying of prostate cancer. However, many men will experience potential harms of screening, including false-positive results that require additional workup, overdiagnosis and overtreatment, and treatment complications such as incontinence and impotence," the draft recommendation reads. "The USPSTF recommends individualized decision-making about screening for prostate cancer after discussion with a clinician, so that each man has an opportunity to understand the potential benefits and harms of screening and to incorporate his values and preferences into his decision."
The USPSTF still recommends against prostate cancer screening for men age 70 and older.
Previously, the federal panel claimed possible harms outweighed any potential benefit from prostate cancer screening, according to The Washington Post. However, the draft recommendations say evidence from a follow-up trial "increased the confidence in the benefits of the screening."
The public comment period for the draft recommendation began Tuesday and ends May 8.