An initial PSA level of 3.0 ng/mL appears to be an appropriate threshold for biopsy of men to investigate for prostate cancer, a major new study suggests.
About 80% of men in the age group of 55-74 years had a PSA under 3 and there was a low mortality in this group, suggesting that annual PSA testing is not appropriate for them, according to Dutch researchers.
In a study of almost 20,000 men who underwent PSA screening, they found that 15,758 had an initial PSA level of less than 3. After 11 years of follow up, 6% of the men in this group had developed prostate cancers, 1% had aggressive cancers and there was an overall mortalilty rate of 0.15% (23 deaths).
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