Black men should start prostate cancer screening earlier

A study published in the journal NEJM Evidence recommends that Black men start talking with their doctors about prostate cancer screening as early as age 40, rather than 55, the currently recommended age. 

The Prostate Cancer Foundation screening recommendation comes from a group of 19 panelists: primary-care physicians, oncologists and patients, including two Black prostate cancer survivors.  Dr. Yaw Nyame, a UW Medicine urologist and affiliate investigator with the Fred Hutch Cancer Center, was on the panel and co-led the group writing the recommendations. 

Nyame hopes the report will provide impetus for other evidence-based screening guidelines by organizations such as the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and American Academy of Family Physicians. Black men have a 120% higher rate of death from prostate cancer, compared to the general U.S. population. 

“We cannot ignore the burden of prostate cancer among Black communities any longer,” he said. “This guideline, rooted in the best available evidence, gives us an opportunity to be action- oriented in reducing that burden.”