In recent times, a new test for prostate cancer, the Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) test has become available. This has helped doctors detect prostate cancers much earlier.

However there are some issues with the test. It may report false positive and false negative results. Further, it does not distinguish between prostate cancers which are life-threatening and those which are not. As a result, its use is somewhat controversial, particularly given the significant side effects which result from procedures needed to diagnose and treat prostate cancers.

The U.S. National Cancer Institute has a web-page which answers several common questions regarding PSA tests.