November 12, 2026- The American Cancer Society (ACS) released an updated guideline for prostate cancer screening to help find cancer before it spreads and reduce the risk of dying from the disease. Key changes include a direct recommendation for prostate-specific antigen (PSA)-based screening every two years for average-risk men aged 50-69, with clinicians ensuring patients understand the potential benefits, limitations, and harms before starting screening. Also, ACS recommends annual PSA-based screening beginning at 45 years old for Black men and men with a strong family history of prostate cancer.
Since the previous ACS guideline was published in 2010, there is stronger evidence showing that screening for prostate cancer with a PSA test significantly reduces prostate cancer mortality and diagnosis of advanced-stage disease. A PSA test is a simple blood test that measures the level of prostate-specific antigen. There have been advances in approaches to an elevated PSA that can reduce the risk of adverse outcomes associated with diagnosing and treating prostate cancer that may not be life-threatening. The guideline update is published in a report in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, the flagship journal of ACS.