Baseline PSA levels in midlife are associated with the subsequent risk of clinically significant prostate cancer, according to a large US study.

A single test taken in men, aged 55-60, predicts the long-term diagnosis of prostate cancer, the researchers have find in a secondary analysis of a large clinical trial.

Lead author Dr Evan Kovac, of Montefiore Medical Center, New York City, US, says the study suggests that men with a PSA less than one may “consider cessation of further screening as their long-term risk of lethal prostate cancer is very low (around 1%)”.

Dr Kovac and colleagues examined data from the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian (PLCO) randomised screening trial involving more than 76,000 men, in the study published in JAMA Network Open.