Abstract
Prostate cancer is a common malignancy in elderly men in western countries. It is the leading cause
of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Two main tools for screening, digital rectal examination (DRA)
and prostate-specific antigen (PSA), are still controversial with regards to effectiveness and cost-effectiveness.
The study aimed to examine whether screening for prostate cancer reduces prostate cancer specific
mortality and all-cause mortality and whether population-based screening for prostate cancer is costeffective.
Literature search of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and economic evaluation articles was
conducted through Medline and Cochrane library to assess the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the
prostate cancer screening. Five RCT with a total of 321,644 participants were included in this review. The
meta-analysis showed no statistically significant differences in prostate cancer-specific mortality and allcauses
mortality between screening and no-screening groups. Relative risks for mortality from prostate
cancer and all cause mortality were 0.99 (95%CI; 0.83-1.17) and 0.98 (95%CI; 0.97-1.00) respectively. Nor
was screening found to be cost-effective.
