Optimal Starting Age and Baseline Level for Repeat Tests: Economic Concerns of PSA Screening for Chinese Men - 10-Year Experience of a Single Center.

To investigate the optimal age for the baseline serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test and for repeat screening and its economic burden in a single center in China.

35,533 men with PSA screening were retrospectively enrolled in this study. Follow-ups were conducted in 1,586 men with PSA >4 ng/mL, and receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves were employed to investigate the optimal cutoffs.

ROC analysis indicated that the optimal age for initial PSA screening was 57.5 years (AUC = 0.84), 62.5 years (AUC = 0.902), 60.5 years (AUC = 0.909), and 61.5 years (AUC = 0.890) for individuals with PSA >4 and >10 ng/mL, a diagnosis of prostate cancer (PCa), and clinically significant PCa defined as the focus events, respectively. For Chinese men aged 50-59, 60-69, and >70 years, the initial PSA levels of 1.305 ng/mL (AUC = 0.699), 1.975 ng/mL (AUC = 0.711), and 2.740 ng/mL (AUC = 0.720) might have a PSA velocity >0.75 ng/mL per year during the follow-up. In addition, the total cost amounts to CNY 13,609,260 in these cases, but only 60 of the 35,533 (0.17%) men gained benefit from PSA screening.

In our opinion, the optimal starting age for initial PSA testing was 57.5 years. The necessity for repeat screening should be based on the first PSA level depending on age. A cost--benefit analysis should be included in population-based screening.

Urologia internationalis. 2019 Nov 26 [Epub ahead of print]

Yang Liu, Gang Xiao, Jia-Wei Zhou, Jian-Kun Yang, Li Lu, Jun Bian, Lin Zhong, Qing-Zhu Wei, Qi-Zhao Zhou, Kang-Yi Xue, Wen-Bing Guo, Ming Xia, Jun-Hao Zhou, Ji-Ming Bao, Cheng Yang, Cun-Dong Liu, Ming-Kun Chen

Department of Urology, The Third Affiliated Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China., Department of Laboratory Medicine, The Third Affiliated Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China., Department of Urology, The Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China., Department of Pathology, The Third Affiliated Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China., Department of Urology, The Third Affiliated Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China, .