Thousands of men could be spared unnecessary treatment for prostate cancer by screening according to age and genes, researchers said today.
Better targeted screening could cut deaths from disease and half the number of men who need to be tested, according to experts from Cancer Research UK.
The researchers say their findings may provide the basis of a national screening programme.
Policy-makers have rejected screening programmes because of the concern it would lead to large numbers of men having unnecessary treatment for growths that would never harm them.
The latest work, reported to the National Cancer Research Institute conference in Liverpool, suggests the new approach would cut the number of men needing treatment after screening by 18%.
The researchers suggest men should undergo genetic screening to identify whether they carry genes that increase the risk of getting cancer.
Researcher Dr Nora Pashayan, of University College London, said: “We don’t have a screening programme for prostate cancer because the benefits are outweighed by the harms.
"Identifying men who are more likely to develop prostate cancer and targeting them for screening could potentially save thousands of men from overdiagnosis and unnecessary treatment."
Professor Peter Johnson, of Cancer Research UK, added: "There is great uncertainty about the usefulness of screening for prostate cancer using the PSA test, with many men finding it difficult to weigh up the pros and cons.
"This research suggests an important way to select men for whom testing may be more worthwhile, which points us in the right direction for the future."
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