Prostate cancer diagnoses in California have climbed at a noticeable rate, according to a recent study led by UC San Francisco.
Researchers analyzed data from nearly 388,000 men who were diagnosed with prostate cancer between 2004 and 2021 and discovered that incidence rates rose by 6.7 percent per year from 2011 to 2021. Although overall mortality from prostate cancer declined by 2.6 percent per year from 2004 to 2012 and then remained steady from 2012 to 2021, the rising number of cases has raised concerns among medical experts.
The study’s authors suggest that recommendations issued by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) in 2012, advising against routine PSA (prostate-specific antigen) tests, might have contributed to the spike in advanced cases.
PSA screening can detect both aggressive and non-threatening prostate cancers, leading to the concern that men could be overtreated for tumors that pose no real danger. However, researchers and doctors now caution that avoiding screening altogether risks missing dangerous cancers that could be managed successfully if found early.
Fox News senior medical analyst Dr. Marc Siegel, who was not involved in the research, said that he disagreed with the USPSTF’s earlier recommendations against routine PSA tests, noting that advancements such as MRI-guided diagnostics have made these screenings more precise.
Siegel added that the overall rise in prostate cancer cases could also be tied to broader health trends, including obesity, frequent consumption of processed foods, and high alcohol intake.
Dr. David R. Wise of NYU Langone Perlmutter Cancer Center echoed these views and said that a renewed focus on prostate cancer screening would likely reverse the increase in advanced cases. He pointed out that improved testing methods, including MRI and newer blood-based markers, can help identify aggressive tumors without overtreating harmless ones.
According to UCSF, prostate cancer remains the most common type of cancer among men in the United States and is the second-leading cause of cancer deaths, making research and discussions on screening essential for men across the country.