Health Screenings for Men

Introduction to Screening Guidelines

The American College of Cardiology and other organizations recommend that men undergo age-appropriate, risk-stratified screening that prioritizes cardiovascular disease prevention, cancer detection, and abdominal aortic aneurysm surveillance, with shared decision-making central to prostate cancer screening decisions 1, 2, 3

The American Heart Association recommends lipid screening for men aged 40-75 years, as there is insufficient evidence to support routine screening in younger men unless specific risk factors are present, such as family history of premature cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, or BMI ≥25 kg/m² 4
The American Diabetes Association recommends diabetes screening with hemoglobin A1C for men with BMI ≥25 kg/m² and additional risk factors, including first-degree relative with diabetes, high-risk race/ethnicity, hypertension, HDL <35 mg/dL, or triglycerides >250 mg/dL 4

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network recommends prostate cancer screening with PSA testing, which requires shared decision-making and should begin at age 45-50 for average-risk men, age 45 for high-risk men, and age 40 for very high-risk men 1, 5, 6, 3
The US Preventive Services Task Force recommends providing information about potential benefits and harms for men aged 55-69 years, while recommending against screening for men ≥70 years 2, 3
Key considerations for PSA screening include not screening men with less than 10-15 year life expectancy, and using a baseline PSA <1.0 ng/mL at age 60 to predict <0.3% likelihood of prostate cancer death, allowing less frequent screening 5, 6, 3, 1
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network recommends alternatives to routine biopsy for elevated PSA, including serum biomarker testing and multiparametric MRI 1
Active surveillance is appropriate for low-risk cancers detected through screening 1
The American Cancer Society recommends colorectal cancer screening starting at age 45 for average-risk men and continuing until at least age 75 4

For middle-aged men (40-54), the National Comprehensive Cancer Network recommends PSA screening discussions starting at age 45, and colorectal cancer screening starting at age 45 1, 5, 3, 4
For older men (55-75), the US Preventive Services Task Force recommends PSA screening with shared decision-making, and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network recommends continuing screening through age 75 1, 2, 3
For men over 75, the US Preventive Services Task Force recommends discontinuing PSA screening, while the National Comprehensive Cancer Network considers continuing screening in highly selected healthy men with minimal comorbidity 2, 3