Screening PSAs

Did you know?

• According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), prostate cancer is the most common cancer in American men after skin cancer.
• For the year 2026, the ACS estimates that in the U.S. 333,830 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed, and that 36,320 men will die from this disease.
• ‍Risk factors for this disease include age, being African-American, and having a family history of prostate cancer.

Why should I care?

• The PSA test is a blood test that detects a substance made by the prostate called prostate-specific antigen. If the PSA reading is elevated, this can be a sign of cancer. However, PSA levels can be elevated due to other causes.
• During the PSA era–when there has been an emphasis on early detection–there has been over a 50% reduction in the age-adjusted U.S. death rate from prostate cancer for all races (from 1994-2017).
• During the COVID-19 pandemic, the decline in cancer screenings has raised concerns of delayed diagnoses. Research published in JAMA Oncology found a substantial disruption to cancer diagnoses in the U.S. during the first 10 months of the COVID-19 pandemic, with prostate cancer accounting for the largest number of potentially missed cases (22,950).
• Our data is showing that among Medicare Fee-for-Service beneficiaries, screening PSAs in our national footprint declined 63% from January to April 2020. Thereafter, procedure volumes did increase but then exhibited a general downward trend as the COVID-19 period continued. As of October 2025, there were a total of 140,509 procedures performed that month. That compared to 166,769 in January 2020.

What should I do?

• During the COVID-19 pandemic, many preventive health services, including cancer screening tests, were delayed or put on hold. Screening tests are important for finding cancer early, when treatment is more likely to be successful. People who missed or delayed screening during the pandemic should talk with their healthcare provider about when to schedule their next test.