American Cancer Society now recommends routine prostate cancer screening for many middle-aged men

The American Cancer Society (ACS) announced on Thursday, 12 November 2026, a change to its prostate cancer screening guidelines. The revised guidelines recommend routine screening for many middle-aged men. STAT, Reuters and AP all reported the announcement.

What the guidelines recommend

The detailed recommendations below come from STAT. Vocemundi had access only to summaries of the Reuters and AP reports, so their accounts of these details could not be compared with STAT's. According to STAT:

• Men aged 50 to 69 at average risk should have a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test every two years.
• Black men and men with a strong family history of prostate cancer are considered high-risk. They are encouraged to have PSA-based screening every year from age 45.
• From age 70, the decision to continue screening is made case by case. Screening should stop after age 80, or in men not expected to live another 10 years.
• For men aged 45 to 69, a PSA level of 3.0 nanograms per milliliter (ng/ml) or higher counts as elevated.
• Two elevated readings should be followed by an MRI scan, a test for other prostate cancer biomarkers, or both. The aim is to reduce the number of biopsies. The guidelines do not favor one biomarker over another.
• The guidelines emphasize active surveillance for men with slow-growing cancer.

Background

According to STAT, routine PSA screening was dropped from the ACS guidelines in 2010. Testing for average-risk men was then left to their discretion after assessing their cancer risk with a physician. Routine screening had fallen out of favor because the test lacks specificity. STAT reports that this led many men to undergo follow-up procedures when they had no cancer or had very slow-growing tumors.

STAT says the change reflects findings, available since 2025, that PSA screening reduced deaths from the disease for certain men. The reports do not identify the specific studies.

According to STAT, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) still recommends against routine, population-wide PSA screening and favors individual decisions. It has announced an upcoming update. Its recommendations determine which preventive services insurers must cover. The reports do not say when the update will be released.

What each side says

According to Reuters, the ACS believes the possible benefits of routine screening now outweigh potential harms, given medical advances and growing evidence. STAT reports that the guideline authors hope more surveillance will reduce the number of Black patients diagnosed with advanced cancer. Black men disproportionately die from prostate cancer, according to STAT.

William Dahut, the ACS's chief scientific officer and a contributing author, said biomarker tests were included to offer flexibility. STAT quoted him as saying: "We just wanted to give a little bit of flexibility for folks who cannot easily obtain an MRI."

James Eastham, chief of urology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, called the 3.0 ng/ml cutoff an important clarification. STAT quoted him as saying: "Most PSA blood tests in the United States, when they're reported, say under 4.0 [ng/ml] is normal, but it really should be under 3." He also said, according to STAT: "There have been many men undergoing unnecessary biopsies, and many low risk cancers that were subsequently overtreated."

Eddie Baynes, 56, a prostate cancer survivor and advocate, said the announcement supports his work. STAT quoted him as saying it "just makes what I've been urging individuals to do for a while stronger."

Analysis

The revision places the ACS at odds with the current USPSTF position. This matters because the USPSTF, not the ACS, shapes which preventive services insurers must cover. If the task force's announced update moves closer to the ACS view, access to routine testing could widen. If it does not, doctors and patients may face two differing national recommendations. The extra steps between an elevated PSA and a biopsy aim to limit overdiagnosis, but their practical effect will depend on access to MRI and biomarker tests. Whether the change reduces late-stage diagnoses among Black men remains to be seen.

Produced by the Vocemundi newsroom with AI assistance.