Group releases new recommendations on PSA testing.

News that the American Urological Association has issued new recommendations on PSA screening received moderate coverage in print, in two of the nation's most widely circulated papers, and online, as well as on one of last night's national news broadcasts. Sources characterize the new recommendations as a "stark shift," a "major shift," and "a major break from the past."

        NBC Nightly News (5/3, story 4, 1:40, Williams, 7.86M) reported that the American Urological Association has released new guidelines on PSA screening, which will make the issue of prostate cancer screening "easier to navigate."

        USA Today (5/4, Szabo, 1.71M) reported that the AUA, "which has staunchly defended the PSA screening test in recent years, says healthy men under 55 don't need routine annual screening." Meanwhile, "men ages 55 to 69 who are considering the PSA should consult their doctors about the test's benefits and risks, according to a new policy." Previously, the AUA had recommended that "healthy men ages 40 and up...ask their" physicians about the test.

        The New York Times (5/4, Pollack, Subscription Publication, 1.68M) reported that "screening is also not recommended for men 70 and older." The Times points out that the AUA "had staunchly defended the benefits of screening men with the prostate test, even after a government advisory committee, the United States Preventive Services Task Force, said in 2011 that healthy men should not be screened because far more men would be harmed by unnecessary prostate cancer treatments than would be saved from death."

        The Los Angeles Times (5/4, Kaplan, 692K) "Science Now" blog reported that "the new guideline also acknowledges that many men get treatment that's too aggressive for their disease. 'Although prostate-cancer-specific mortality and the need for related palliative care is decreased by screening, quality of life may be impaired as a result due to lasting impairment in urinary, bowel and sexual function,' the guideline states. 'Thus, personal preferences should play a large role in both a decision to screen and in prostate cancer management if diagnosed.'"

        On its website, CBS News (5/4, Jaslow) reported that the AUA "determined the mortality benefits of preventing prostate cancer death with a PSA test for men ages 55 to 69 amounted to one male life spared for every 1,000 men screened over a decade."

        The Boston Globe (5/4, Kotz, 250K) reported that, according to Dr. H. Ballentine Carter, who led the group that wrote the new recommendations, "This new guideline has been in the works for two years," and is "based on evidence from clinical trials." The earlier "recommendations, he added, were based on what urologists considered the 'best practice' of medicine based on their own clinical experience." Also covering the story are The Oregonian (5/4, 237K), Reuters (5/4, Pittman), Medscape (5/4, Chustecka),MedPage Today (5/4, Bankhead), HealthDay (5/4), and the NPR (5/4, Hensley) "Shots" blog.