11/04/2026
In 2012 the US Preventive Services Task Force recommended against routine PSA screening, leaning on one trial — the PLCO — that found no mortality difference.
Then someone checked the control group. 86% had been screened anyway.
It had been comparing screening to screening.
The corrected 2017 analysis in Annals of Internal Medicine put PSA screening at a 27–32% lower risk of dying from prostate cancer. The Task Force revised its position in 2018: for men 55 to 69 it is now an individual decision to make with your doctor, not a recommendation against.
It's Movember. The free lab-reading protocol PDF is in bio if you want to walk into that conversation prepared.