Yes, it is frightening indeed ! We tried to be very discreet with my husband's diagnosis but told to couple of very close friends. Both man went to GP to ask for PSA test and one got the order ( he is 50 years old ) and the other (60 years old) was told that it is "not necessary and that number does not mean anything" (???) so he ordered test himself and payed for it in local lab. The second doctor is actually lady in her 40-ies and works in prominent establishment here in the Bay Area (PAMF), so I was flabbergasted.

The issue with PSA testing occurred in 2012 when the US Preventative Services Task Force recommended against routine prostate cancer screening (assigning the screening a “D” recommendation: https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/recommendation/prostate-cancer-screening-2012).

That one decision led to many of the advanced cases we see today.

However, due to political pressure, they upgraded that recommendation in 2018 (which is the current guideline). These current USPSTF guidelines recommend against PSA screening after age 70 (https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/recommendation/prostate-cancer-screening).

Fortunately, few doctors follow this recommendation - except perhaps Presidents’ doctors…..

Of all the frustrating arguments you can have online, this is one of them. It’s just beyond comprehension that a doctor would recommend skipping a PSA test.