Barnett S. Kramer, MD, MPH

This article will present a detailed review of the body of evidence regarding the PSA assay, with reflections on the resulting future of prostate cancer screening.

Drs. Benoit and Naslund venture into the complex arena of medical economics and cost-effectiveness analysis of prostate cancer screening-a task that is made all the more difficult because of the dual paucity of data on costs and effectiveness. Their underlying premises are that cost control is a dominant concern in the prostate cancer screening debate and that cost-effectiveness analyses have been used to “justify denial of prostate cancer screening.” Both of these assumptions bear scrutiny.