Resources and Publications

Please visit Prostate Cancer Publications Available Online for a complete list of documents in PDF and HTML formats.

Please visit Scientific Articles about Prostate Cancer for a complete list of scientific articles by CDC authors.

Download the 2006/2007 Prostate Cancer Initiatives Fact Sheet (PDF-242KB).

To order printed copies of prostate cancer publications free of charge, please visit the Print Publication Ordering System.

CDC Publications

• Prostate Cancer Screening: A Decision Guide
  Are you thinking about getting screened for prostate cancer or do you know someone who is? This 17-page guide is designed to help a man decide whether screening is right for him by describing the prostate, prostate cancer, and the screening tests in an easy-to-read question and answer format.



• Prostate Cancer Screening: A Decision Guide for African Americans
  This informed decision making guide targets African-American men. At all ages, African-American men die of prostate cancer more often than other men do. The reasons for the variation among groups are unknown, making it critical that African-American men know the facts about prostate cancer and the available screening tests.



• La Detección del Cáncer de Próstata: Una Guía para Hispanos en los Estados Unidos (PDF-512KB)
  This 24-page booklet, written in Spanish, provides basic information and encourages Hispanic men to decide whether screening is the right choice for them.



• Screening for Prostate Cancer: Sharing the Decision
  This slide presentation helps physicians explain prostate cancer and screening to patients more effectively.



• Prostate Cancer Conference Report
  This report is from a CDC-sponsored workshop to discuss issues in prostate cancer prevention and control and develop suggestions on how public health organizations can engage in research and program activities to address prostate cancer.



• Prostate Cancer Research and Evaluation Activities
  Describes four prostate cancer research projects CDC participated in during 2004 and 2005.

Screening Information

Although different organizations have different prostate cancer screening recommendations, there is little debate surrounding the importance of the role played by physicians in patient education and the informed decision making process. Most published recommendations include some reference to the need for physician and patient education about potential benefits and risks associated with prostate cancer screening and management options. To counsel patients effectively, physicians need access to the most current information and need to incorporate it into their practice.

Online information sources include:

American Cancer Society
Recommendations for Prostate Cancer Early Detection*

American College of Physicians-American Society of Internal Medicine
Screening for Prostate Cancer: Guideline and Background Papers, 1996*

American College of Preventive Medicine
Screening for Prostate Cancer in American Men*

American Urological Association, Inc.
Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA): Best Practice Policy, 1999
http://www.cancernetwork.com/journals/oncology/o0002e.htm*

National Cancer Institute
Prostate Cancer Information

National Guideline Clearinghouse

National Cancer Institute Cancer Screening Trial

Designed to determine if current methods used in cancer screening can effectively decrease morbidity (illness) or mortality (death) from cancers of the prostate, lung, colon/rectum, and ovary (PLCO), the PLCO Cancer Screening Trial is sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

The screening methods being tested in the trial include prostate (prostate-specific-antigen or PSA for short), digital-rectal-exam (DRE), lung (chest x-ray), colorectal (flexible sigmoidoscopy), and ovary (CA125 blood test, palpation of ovaries i.e., pelvic exam).

The PLCO Trial enrolled 155,000 individuals, who are between 55 and 74 years old, nationwide. Men and women are equally represented. Half of the trial participants will be randomly assigned to the intervention (screening) arm and half will be assigned to the control arm (usual medical care).

For more information about the PLCO Trial and the 10 screening centers, visit the PLCO Web site, National Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial.

General Resources

• Screening digital rectal examination
• Screening prostate specific antigen blood test

Please call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) or visit Medicare for more information about Medicare benefits.

Please note: Some of these publications are available for download only as *.pdf files. These files require Adobe Acrobat Reader in order to be viewed. Please review the information on downloading and using Acrobat Reader software.

*Links to non-Federal organizations found at this site are provided solely as a service to our users. These links do not constitute an endorsement of these organizations or their programs by CDC or the Federal Government, and none should be inferred. CDC is not responsible for the content of the individual organization Web pages found at these links.