The prostate PSA test: Hong Kong's screening advice, the age thresholds used elsewhere, and the numbers on benefit and harm

Last updated: 2026-09-13

The CEWG's 2026 Hong Kong recommendation states that there is insufficient scientific evidence to recommend for or against population-based prostate cancer screening in asymptomatic men; for anyone considering screening, the official advice is to discuss the benefits and harms with a clinician, and the age to start, the age to stop and the interval should be individualised. Hong Kong's urological bodies and overseas guidelines also emphasise informed decision-making, but they differ in the population, the ages and the intervals, and should not be reduced to a for-and-against tally. A high PSA does not mean cancer, and a normal one cannot completely rule cancer out. Screening may reduce some prostate cancer deaths and some metastatic disease; it may also bring false positives, biopsy complications, overdiagnosis and overtreatment. This article sets out, for each set of figures, who it applies to, what the denominator is and over what period it was observed. The HKCaR recorded 3,031 new cases in 2023: third among cancers in men; the ranking of fourth for both sexes combined comes from the Overview of Hong Kong Cancer Statistics for the same year. Of the cases diagnosed in 2023, 29.4% were stage IV and a further 12.7% were unstaged; that stage distribution reflects the burden of disease and cannot by itself demonstrate that screening works.

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#What is prostate cancer? What is the PSA test actually measuring?

PSA is not a diagnosis. It is the level of a protein in the blood. The Centre for Health Protection's Non-communicable Disease Branch leaflet Prostate Cancer Prevention and Screening — Cancer Prevention Series 5 (Jun 2026) explains prostate cancer this way:

Prostate cancer results from abnormal growth of cells of the prostate gland. Some prostate cancers grow slowly and may not affect the health of the patient while some grow rapidly and spread to other parts of the body, leading to organ dysfunction and even death.

The same leaflet explains the PSA test (prostate-specific antigen):

The PSA test is a screening test for prostate cancer. PSA is a protein produced by cells in the prostate gland with small amounts released into the bloodstream. The PSA test measures the level of PSA in the blood. In general, the probability of prostate cancer increases with increasing PSA level in the blood. However, since some non-cancerous prostate conditions including benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostatitis (inflammation of the prostate) can also cause an increase in the blood PSA level, elevated PSA level does not mean that there must be prostate cancer.

A high PSA can be cancer, it can be benign prostatic hyperplasia, and it can be prostatitis. The same leaflet also defines screening: "The purpose of prostate cancer screening is to detect prostate cancer before it gives rise to symptoms, so that early treatment can be initiated." — that is, it is done on people who have no symptoms.

And "no symptoms" is where it is easiest to come unstuck. The same leaflet states that "Early prostate cancer may have no symptoms, so they often go unnoticed", then lists difficulty or delay in urination, slow or weak stream of urine, urinary frequency especially at night, blood in urine, and pain in the lower back, pelvis and hips — and it is the sentence immediately after that matters:

However, some of these symptoms are similar to those of benign prostatic hyperplasia which is not cancer. You should consult a doctor as soon as possible if you develop any of the above symptoms.

⚠️ That is: getting up at night and a slow stream are, in the official wording, similar to benign prostatic hyperplasia; while early prostate cancer, according to the same document, may have no symptoms at all.

Accuracy has to be read together with who is being tested. The Centre for Health Protection's "Men's Health Line - Prostate Cancer" page places the following fractions in the context of a person without symptoms considering screening, and states plainly that the accuracy of the digital rectal examination depends on the skill and experience of the person who performs the test. The page states that about 5 out of 6 men with abnormal DRE results do not have prostate cancer, and that about 1 out of 2 men with prostate cancer may not be detected by DRE. On PSA, the page reads:

Since an increase in PSA level could be caused by conditions other than prostate cancer,

about 3 out of 4 men with a raised PSA level do not have prostate cancer, and on the other hand

about 1 out of 4 men with prostate cancer may not have a raised PSA level

That page does not give a study population, a PSA threshold or a confidence interval for those fractions; they are general figures for public education, and should not be treated as the probability of cancer for someone with symptoms or for an individual report. The Centre for Health Protection's 2026 leaflet puts it more directly: benign hyperplasia and inflammation can both raise PSA, and a screening result needs to be read together with the clinical picture.

The Hospital Authority, in its press release of 3 June 2025 following a recall of PSA reagent, explained: "A PSA test is not a standalone diagnostic indicator. Doctors will make a comprehensive clinical judgment based on patient's clinical condition and other examinations, such as a rectal examination, an ultrasound scan and a biopsy examination to diagnose whether the patient has prostate cancer."

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#How many people are diagnosed each year in Hong Kong? Why do two official figures differ?

The Hong Kong Cancer Registry's Prostate Cancer in 2023 fact sheet (published August 2025) records 3,031 new cases of prostate cancer and 522 deaths in 2023. The same sheet prints: 3rd in incidence and 4th in mortality among males; 16.2% of new cancer cases in men and 6.1% of cancer deaths in men; median age at diagnosis 71; crude incidence rate 88.2 and crude mortality rate 15.2 per 100 000 male population.

The same Registry's Overview of Hong Kong Cancer Statistics of 2023 places prostate cancer in the top five for both sexes combined — "4th Prostate: 3,031 cases" — while its male list reads "3) Prostate: 3,031 cases". Both rankings are correct, and both describe the same 3,031 cases: fourth for both sexes combined, third among men.

⚠️ Two official sources print different age-standardised rates. Neither is wrong, and they cannot be run together. The footnote to the Registry's table states that its rates are age-adjusted to the World Standard Population of Segi (1960), and that comparisons with rates from other sources are valid only under the same standard population for calculations. The footnote on the Centre for Health Protection's "Prostate Cancer" statistics page (page self-printed date: 23 January 2026) states that its rates are compiled based on the world standard population specified in GPE Discussion Paper Series: No.31, EIP/GPE/EBD, World Health Organization, 2001. So:

• The Registry's set (2023, Segi 1960): 3,031 new cases, 522 deaths, age-standardised incidence rate 30.7, age-standardised mortality rate 4.1 (per 100 000 male standard population).
• The Centre for Health Protection's set (incidence 2023, mortality 2024, WHO 2001): as that page puts it, 3 031 new cases in 2023 with an age-standardised incidence rate of 35.2; in 2024 a total of 518 men died from this cancer, accounting for 6.0% of male cancer deaths, with an age-standardised death rate of 5.0 per 100 000 standard population.

Cumulative risk and survival are two further, different measures. The Registry's table prints the lifetime risk before age 75 (ages 0 to 74): 1 in 24 for a diagnosis, and 1 in 302 for death from prostate cancer; the same sheet prints a five-year relative survival of 84.0% for 2010–2019. The Cancer Online Resource Hub page "Prostate Cancer" breaks it down by stage: "The rates were very high (>97%) in stage I to III but fell to 45% for stage IV."

The 2023 statistics table also records that 29.4% of new cases were stage IV and 12.7% were unstaged. Stage bears on prognosis, but the 522 deaths are not the follow-up outcome of the 3,031 new cases of the same year, and the two cannot be divided to produce a case fatality rate.

The CEWG's professional document of June 2026 (English only) sets two lines side by side: the age-standardised incidence rate rose from 18.4 per 100,000 males in 2004 to 30.7 per 100,000 males in 2023, while over the same period the mortality rate "remained grossly static" (4.3 to 4.1). That description of a rise and a flat line is not enough to judge whether screening works; the CEWG passage does not separately name the standard population it uses, and the matching values in the HKCaR's 2023 table are computed on Segi 1960.

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#Does Hong Kong have a prostate cancer screening programme? What does the Government say?

Prostate cancer is not on the list of Hong Kong's existing official programmes, and the CEWG's scientific recommendation is that the evidence is insufficient to recommend for or against population-based screening. The Centre for Health Protection's Summary of Cancer Expert Working Group on Cancer Prevention and Screening (CEWG) Recommendations on Cancer Screening (2026) has five entries in its prostate cancer row: entry 1 is a lifestyle recommendation (no smoking, avoid alcohol consumption, regular physical activity and a healthy diet to maintain a healthy body weight), entries 2 and 3 fall under "average risk", entry 4 under "increased risk", and entry 5 spans both groups. The official English reads as follows.

For asymptomatic persons at average risk:

There is insufficient scientific evidence to recommend for or against population-based prostate cancer screening in asymptomatic men.

Asymptomatic men considering prostate cancer screening should discuss the potential benefits and harms of screening with their clinicians so that they can make an informed decision. The screening blood test to be considered is prostate-specific antigen (PSA). The age to start and stop screening as well as the screening interval should be individualised. Digital rectal examination (DRE) alone is not recommended for prostate cancer screening.

For asymptomatic persons at increased risk:

Men at increased risk, such as those with germline mutations (including BRCA2 mutations) or those with a family history of prostate cancer, should consider seeking advice from their doctor regarding the need for and the approach of screening. The screening blood test to be considered is PSA. The age to start and stop screening as well as the screening interval should be individualised. DRE alone is not recommended for prostate cancer screening.

Entry 5 applies to both groups:

For men with an elevated PSA, further assessment options may be considered to inform biopsy decisions where applicable, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and serum biomarkers, e.g., Prostate Health Index (PHI) and 4K score.

"Insufficient evidence" and informed choice have to be understood together. Entry 5 offers assessment options where applicable; it does not prescribe that everyone must complete each step in the order PSA, MRI, biopsy. The summary tables also carry a general note at the end: "Important note: The relevant benefits and risks should always be discussed with your healthcare provider before undergoing cancer screening."

When was it adopted? The CEWG's English professional document Recommendations on Prevention and Screening for Prostate Cancer — For Health Professionals (self-printed June 2026) states: "The recommendations were endorsed by the Cancer Coordinating Committee at its 21st meeting on 12 June 2026."

How does the Government itself explain why not every cancer is screened for? Paragraph 10 of the Legislative Council Panel on Health Services discussion paper of 11 July 2025 (LC Paper No. CB(3)1078/2025(03)) first sets out the factors considered in assessing a screening recommendation — the local prevalence of the cancer, the accuracy and safety of the screening tests, effectiveness in reducing incidence and mortality rates, feasibility of implementation, and the priority determined from the perspective of good utilisation of medical resources — and then states:

Excessive screening under public health programmes not only wastes resources for the overall public health, but also runs out of resources that can be invested on other projects in greater need, and may pose unnecessary health risks to individuals, often causing more harm than good.

Paragraph 11 of the same document lists the Cervical Screening Programme, the Colorectal Cancer Screening Programme and the Breast Cancer Screening Pilot Programme. The "Cancer Prevention" chapter at paragraphs 9 to 23 also describes a risk-based, gradual rollout of screening, including the hepatitis B screening programme then in preparation, the study of lung cancer screening, and work on artificial intelligence in lung cancer screening. Prostate cancer does not appear on the list of programmes in that paper, which does not mean Hong Kong has no prostate-related services. The three cancer screening programmes named in the Department of Health's World Cancer Day press release of February 2026 are likewise cervical, colorectal and the breast pilot programme. 2026 press release

On 3 June 2025 the Hospital Authority followed up the supplier Abbott's recall of PSA reagent: some readings exhibited positive bias greater than 10 per cent; Caritas Medical Centre had used the affected reagent to test 406 patient blood samples and would contact approximately 70 patients based on their clinical needs to rearrange blood tests. The affected batch delivered to Tuen Mun Hospital had not been put into use. The announcement stated that PSA testing services in all public hospitals remain unaffected; it did not set out application conditions or prices for screening people without symptoms.

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#What do the various guidelines say?

Population screening policy, individual informed choice and screening of high-risk groups are three related but different questions. The comparison below is document by document; a joint statement counts as one document, and the number of bodies is not a tally of evidence.

Sources as above: links to each body's guideline are at the end of this article; this table is this site's summary, not a word-for-word translation. Although the Hong Kong joint statement carries no printed date, its claims must be read in full: early detection may reduce the suffering caused by locally advanced and metastatic disease, while shared decision-making must cover the possibility of a raised PSA and the management options if the result is abnormal, the limitations of screening tests, the risk of transrectal ultrasound-guided prostate biopsy, the chance of over-diagnosis, over-treatment and treatment related morbidities, and the option of active surveillance to reduce overtreatment. It also states plainly that there is no local data supporting population screening for prostate cancer in Hong Kong. These two parts should not be split into contradictory positions. The USPSTF recommendation against screening that the statement refers to does not correspond to the USPSTF's 2018 version on individual decision-making for ages 55 to 69; an undated statement cannot be taken as that American body's current position.

The UK NSC's targeted recommendation has strict boundaries. The 2026 page states that screening is more likely to cause more harm than good in the whole population and in men with a family member who has had breast, ovarian or prostate cancer but who do not have a BRCA2 variant; that for black men there is ongoing uncertainty as to whether screening would cause more good than harm, and so it does not recommend targeted screening for any other risk groups. It lists the possible consequences: incontinence and erectile dysfunction in men who do not need treatment. The committee also says it is hopeful that new evidence, new tests and a better understanding of prostate cancer will support much wider screening in the future; that is a forward view, not a current widening of eligibility.

Randomised trials have given different results, but not three opposite directions. Paragraph 11 of the CEWG's 2026 professional document sets out the results as follows (this site's summary):

Both CAP and ERSPC observed a reduction in prostate cancer mortality, of different sizes and under different arrangements; PLCO found no significant difference. "A 20% relative reduction" and "an absolute reduction of 0.18 percentage points" can describe different aspects of the same result, and a relative figure from one trial should not be set against an absolute figure from another as though comparing sizes. How men were invited, how many actually attended screening, how much testing the control group did on its own, and the length of follow-up all affect the reading.

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#At what age should you start? Which age is the Hong Kong recommendation?

The CEWG's 2026 summary sets no uniform starting or stopping age. Both of the CEWG's recommendations, for the two groups of men, use the same sentence: "The age to start and stop screening as well as the screening interval should be individualised." So this summary does not support treating "in Hong Kong you start at 50" as an official rule.

The Hong Kong urological joint statement sets out seven recommendations. They read, in the statement's own English:

1. "Men who are younger than 40 years old are advised against PSA screening"
2. "Men aged 40-55 years old are recommended for early prostate cancer detection if they are at high risk of cancer development"
3. "Men aged 55 to 77 years old are recommended a shared decision making for PSA screening after the potential benefit and harm of screening are discussed"
4. "Screening interval of two years or more are preferred over annual screening to reduce the harms of screening and preserve the benefits"
5. "Men who are old than 77 years old or have less than 10-year life expectancy are advised against routine screening" — the English says less than 10 years, while the Chinese text of the same statement says not more than 10 years.
6. "Men aged 55 to 77 years old or with life expectancy over 10 years who have abnormal PSA result should have thorough discussion with an urologist on the options of management, which may involve a prostate biopsy or other investigations to further stratify the cancer risk."
7. "Active surveillance should be included as a treatment option to men who are diagnosed to have low risk prostate cancer through early prostate cancer detection in order to reduce overtreatment and the treatment related morbidities"

Testing, diagnosis and management after diagnosis are different parts of one set of informed decisions. A joint statement with no self-printed date does not displace the CEWG's 2026 recommendations, which are the most recent official Hong Kong advice.

The HKUA public article of 2 December 2021 gives its high-risk group as 40–54, which is not identical to the joint statement's 40–55. Its text reads: "For men aged 40 to 54 whose father or brother has had prostate cancer, regular PSA screening is recommended", and "For men aged 55 to 77, after a doctor's explanation and a full understanding of the benefits and harms of PSA screening, regular PSA screening is recommended", with the note "*If PSA is normal (<4ng/mL), PSA may be screened once every two years" (that article is published in Chinese only; these renderings are this site's translation). ⚠️ The sentence that follows immediately in that article sets its scope: "The above recommendations apply only to men without any symptoms. Anyone with urinary tract symptoms should seek medical attention early and have their prostate cancer risk assessed."

The AUA/SUO age thresholds are an American guideline. The AUA/SUO guideline states "Clinicians may begin prostate cancer screening and offer a baseline PSA test to people between ages 45 to 50 years. (Conditional Recommendation; Evidence Level: Grade B)" and "Clinicians should offer prostate cancer screening beginning at age 40 to 45 years for people at increased risk of developing prostate cancer based on the following: Black race, germline mutations, strong family history of prostate cancer. (Strong Recommendation; Evidence Level: Grade B)". Statements 1 and 7 of the same guideline stress shared decision-making, individual preference, and adjusting or stopping screening by risk. The discussion to statement 7 says that clinicians may discontinue or substantially lengthen the re-screening interval for patients 75 years of age or older if PSA is < 3 ng/mL, and that for patients with less than a ten-year estimated life expectancy screening is not likely to provide a benefit in terms of disease-specific or overall mortality. These are multi-factor judgements, not a rule that screening stops on a birthday.

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#If your PSA comes back high, what happens next?

A high PSA is not an answer; it is the start of a series of follow-up steps. The Centre for Health Protection's "Men's Health Line - Prostate Cancer" page states: "If the results of DRE and/or PSA test, which are not definitive diagnostic test, are abnormal, your doctor may refer you to a specialist for further investigations. Such investigations include a prostate ultrasound and removal of tissue samples (biopsy) from the prostate to determine whether cancer is present."

A newly raised result may be repeated first: this is the AUA/SUO's expert opinion. The AUA/SUO guideline states "For people with a newly elevated PSA, clinicians should repeat the PSA prior to a secondary biomarker, imaging, or biopsy. (Expert Opinion)".

Imaging and serum markers are options to be considered according to the situation. The CEWG summary states: "For men with an elevated PSA, further assessment options may be considered to inform biopsy decisions where applicable, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and serum biomarkers, e.g., Prostate Health Index (PHI) and 4K score." The CEWG's English professional document concludes on multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) as a triage test: "The high NPV implied that mpMRI could be useful in ruling out significant disease, resulting in fewer biopsies."

Across the 12 studies cited in paragraph 15 of the CEWG professional document, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of mpMRI ranged from 58%–96%, 23%–87%, 34%–68% and 63%–98% respectively. The ranges reflect differences between studies and populations, and a "negative" cannot be taken as ruling out clinically significant cancer with certainty.

A biopsy can help make a diagnosis, and it also carries a risk of complications. The Cancer Online Resource Hub page "Prostate Cancer" lists them by route: for transrectal biopsy, "Life-threatening septicaemia (<1%)", "Infection of the urinary tract (1-5%)", "Bleeding from rectum", "Blood-stained urine (can last up to 1 to 2 weeks)" and others; for transperineal biopsy, "Life-threatening sepsis (0.1%)", "Urinary tract infection (1%)", "Difficulty in passing urine or urinary retention (acute inability to urinate with lower abdominal pain and require emergency medical care) (5%)" and "Short-term erectile dysfunction (5%)" among others. ⚠️ Both sections of the same page carry the same point: the transrectal section reads "However, a negative biopsy does not completely rule out the possibility of the disease." and the transperineal section reads "However, negative result cannot completely rule out the possibility of prostate cancer."

⚠️ The Chinese and English versions of this same page print different sepsis figures for transperineal biopsy. The English page prints "Life-threatening sepsis (0.1%)"; the Chinese version of the same line prints 「出現機率約為1%」 — a tenfold difference. The transrectal line agrees across the two versions ("<1%" and 「低於1%」). This article reproduces both figures as printed and does not decide which of the two the page intended. Note also that the transrectal figure on both pages is an upper bound — "<1%" — not a point estimate, so the displayed numbers cannot support a comparison between the two routes in either direction: a value satisfying "<1%" may lie above or below 0.1%. A reader comparing the two routes should ask their doctor.

Management after a diagnosis includes treatment and, where suitable, active surveillance, and treatment itself has a price. On radical prostatectomy, the same Cancer Online Resource Hub page lists "Various degree of urinary incontinence (~5-15% after one year)", erectile dysfunction, "Loss of ejaculation and infertility (normal consequence)", and "Mortality related to tumour surgery or pre-existing diseases (0.5-2%)", among others. Active surveillance is planned follow-up; it is not the same as being left alone. For some slow-growing cancers, the official position is that immediate treatment may not be needed — the Centre for Health Protection's "Men's Health Line - Prostate Cancer" page states: "Prostate cancer is not always an aggressive disease and its 5-year survival is high. Some are slow growing and many men with prostate cancer do not die from it. Treatment is not necessary in this group of men and could cause temporary or long-lasting side effects."

"Overdiagnosis" means screening finding a cancer that would never have caused symptoms or death in that person's lifetime; it is not the same as a false-positive laboratory result. The estimates below are from overseas. The USPSTF recommendation of 8 May 2018 states "Trial data suggest that 21% of cases of screen-detected cancer in the PLCO trial and 50% in the ERSPC trial were overdiagnosed.", and the sentence that follows uses a different method: "Using a different type of methodology (ie, not estimates based directly on single trials), 3 decision analysis models produced by the Cancer Intervention and Surveillance Modeling Network estimated that between 1988 and 2000 in the United States, the overdiagnosis rate among cases of screen-detected prostate cancer was 22% to 42%."; the summary form used in the body of the document is "20% to 50% of men diagnosed with prostate cancer through screening may be overdiagnosed". ⚠️ Those two ranges come from different methods; they cannot be swapped, and a midpoint cannot be quoted on its own. The same document also notes that overdiagnosis increases with age, and that one study estimates the overdiagnosis rate is more than 15-fold higher in men older than 85 years than in men aged 50 to 54 years. That is that study's estimate, not an age-specific rate for Hong Kong. The USPSTF also states that no strategy completely eliminates overdiagnosis.

The USPSTF also sets out the benefit: "Longer-term follow-up of the ERSPC trial and from some ERSPC trial sites found that PSA-based screening for prostate cancer prevents 1.28 men from dying of prostate cancer for every 1,000 men screened. In addition, a subset of ERSPC trial sites have since reported that screening 1,000 men aged 55 to 69 years may prevent approximately 3 men from developing metastatic prostate cancer." This site's conversion: 1.28 per 1,000 is about 0.13 percentage points; the 13-year result cited by the CEWG is 0.14 percentage points. The denominator of the 20–50% in the paragraph above is "men diagnosed with cancer through screening"; the denominator of the 1,000 in this paragraph is "all men screened", and the mortality benefit derives broadly from about 13 years of follow-up, so the two cannot simply be subtracted to give a net benefit. The same document also sets out the burden of false positives: one major trial in men screened every 2 to 4 years concluded that, over 10 years, more than 15% of men experienced at least 1 false-positive test result.

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#Common questions

• Is the Hong Kong Government telling men not to have a PSA test? The CEWG's 2026 summary states that the scientific evidence is insufficient to recommend for or against population-based screening in asymptomatic men; for anyone considering screening, the official advice is to discuss the benefits and harms first and decide according to individual circumstances.
• What age does Hong Kong recommend starting? The CEWG's 2026 summary sets no uniform age. The Hong Kong urological joint statement and the 2021 public article set out age groups, but their texts and dates differ; the AUA/SUO has another set of thresholds again, and they cannot be merged into a single Hong Kong rule.
• Does a high PSA mean cancer, and a normal one mean no cancer? Neither holds. Benign hyperplasia or inflammation can raise PSA; some cancers do not raise it. The Centre for Health Protection's "3 out of 4" and similar fractions belong to the context of screening people without symptoms, and are not an individual's probability of a diagnosis.
• How should I read getting up at night, or a slow stream? The Centre for Health Protection's 2026 leaflet states that some of these symptoms are similar to those of benign prostatic hyperplasia, and says to consult a doctor as soon as possible if any of the listed symptoms develop. Clinical assessment of symptoms and screening of people without symptoms are different questions.
• Do public hospitals offer PSA? What does it cost? The Hospital Authority's June 2025 announcement following the reagent recall shows that a clinical PSA testing service existed at that time, but it sets out neither the application conditions for people without symptoms nor a price for the individual test. This article does not give public or private prices, and does not treat a clinical service as population screening.

Related articles: 〈Colorectal cancer screening〉 〈| Your check-up report says "abnormal"〉

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#Scope of this article

This article compares named documents from the CEWG, the Hong Kong urological joint statement and public article, the USPSTF, the UK NSC and the AUA/SUO; it is not a comprehensive survey of every body. The undated joint statement is kept marked as carrying no self-printed date, its time of publication is unknown, and that limit must be kept in mind when reading its age thresholds.

The overdiagnosis figures for Hong Kong are bounded by 5 materials: the CEWG's 2026 professional document, the Chinese summary tables, the Centre for Health Protection's 2026 Chinese leaflet, the "Men's Health Line - Prostate Cancer" page and the Cancer Online Resource Hub's "Prostate Cancer" page. None of them provides an overdiagnosis rate for the Hong Kong population; that bounded gap does not mean no such research has ever been done in Hong Kong. The percentages set out in this article are from named overseas trials or model estimates.

This article does not give public or private PSA charges, individual thresholds, an order of investigations or a treatment recommendation. The Chinese alongside the English original in the Traditional Chinese edition is that edition's own summary or translation, not an official Chinese version; Chinese quotations there follow the Chinese source.

This is the English edition. The Traditional Chinese edition is the authoritative version of this article. Quotations above are reproduced from the official English text published by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and by the bodies named, not translated by this site. One source — the Hong Kong Urological Association's public article of 2 December 2021 — is published in Chinese only, and what this article reports from it is this site's translation.

#Sources

• Cancer Expert Working Group on Cancer Prevention and Screening, Summary of Cancer Expert Working Group on Cancer Prevention and Screening (CEWG) Recommendations on Cancer Screening (English, 2026): https://www.chp.gov.hk/files/pdf/12_summary_tables_on_extracted_cewg_recommendations_all_11_cancer_sites_eng.pdf (Last updated: 2026-09-13); Chinese version: https://www.chp.gov.hk/files/pdf/12_summary_tables_on_extracted_cewg_recommendations_all_11_cancer_sites_chi.pdf
• Cancer Expert Working Group on Cancer Prevention and Screening, Recommendations on Prevention and Screening for Prostate Cancer — For Health Professionals (June 2026; English only): https://www.chp.gov.hk/files/pdf/prostate_cancer_professional_hp.pdf (Last updated: 2026-09-13)
• Department of Health, Centre for Health Protection, Non-communicable Disease Branch, Prostate Cancer Prevention and Screening — Cancer Prevention Series 5 (Jun 2026): https://www.chp.gov.hk/files/pdf/5_prostate_cancer_prevention_and_screening_eng.pdf (Last updated: 2026-09-13)
• Centre for Health Protection, "Prostate Cancer" statistics page (page self-printed date 23 January 2026): https://www.chp.gov.hk/en/healthtopics/content/25/5781.html (Last updated: 2026-09-13)
• Centre for Health Protection, "Men's Health Line - Prostate Cancer" (page self-printed date 30 December 2025): https://www.chp.gov.hk/en/static/80055.html (Last updated: 2026-09-13)
• Cancer Online Resource Hub, "Prostate Cancer" (page date 9 July 2026): https://www.cancer.gov.hk/en/hong_kong_cancer/common_cancers_in_hong_kong/prostate_cancer.html (Last updated: 2026-09-13)
• Hong Kong Cancer Registry, Hospital Authority, Prostate Cancer in 2023 (August 2025): https://www3.ha.org.hk/cancereg/pdf/factsheet/2023/prostate_2023.pdf (Last updated: 2026-09-13)
• Hong Kong Cancer Registry, Overview of Hong Kong Cancer Statistics of 2023 (data year 2023; published August 2025): https://www3.ha.org.hk/cancereg/pdf/overview/Overview%20of%20HK%20Cancer%20Stat%202023.pdf (Last updated: 2026-09-13)
• Legislative Council Panel on Health Services, "Taking forward cancer screening programmes and the treatment and support for cancer and rare disease patients", LC Paper No. CB(3)1078/2025(03) (11 July 2025): https://www.legco.gov.hk/yr2025/english/panels/hs/papers/hs20250711cb3-1078-3-e.pdf (Last updated: 2026-09-13)
• Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region press release, "Hospital Authority proactively follows up with supplier on prostate specific antigen reagent product recall" (3 June 2025): https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202506/03/P2025060300662.htm (Last updated: 2026-09-13)
• Hong Kong Urological Association and the Urology Board of the College of Surgeons of Hong Kong, "Position statements on the use of PSA for early detection of prostate cancer" (the document carries no self-printed date; published on the association's website): https://hkua.org/psatesting/ (Last updated: 2026-09-13)
• Hong Kong Urological Association, "Prostate cancer cases at a record high — who should be screened?" (2 December 2021; published in Chinese only, the renderings in this article are this site's translation): https://hkua.org/%E5%89%8D%E5%88%97%E8%85%BA%E7%99%8C%E5%80%8B%E6%A1%88%E5%B9%B4%E5%89%B5%E6%96%B0%E9%AB%98-%E8%AA%B0%E6%87%89%E6%8E%A5%E5%8F%97%E7%AF%A9%E6%9F%A5%EF%BC%9F/ (Last updated: 2026-09-13)
• American Urological Association / Society of Urologic Oncology, Early Detection of Prostate Cancer: AUA/SUO Guideline (Published 2023; Amended 2026): https://www.auanet.org/guidelines-and-quality/guidelines/early-detection-of-prostate-cancer-guideline (Last updated: 2026-09-13)
• US Preventive Services Task Force, Final Recommendation Statement: Prostate Cancer: Screening (May 08, 2018; the page carries "This topic is being updated"): https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/recommendation/prostate-cancer-screening (Last updated: 2026-09-13)
• UK National Screening Committee, Prostate cancer (reviewed March 2026): https://view-health-screening-recommendations.service.gov.uk/prostate-cancer/ (Last updated: 2026-09-13)

Official recommendations and institutional positions may be updated, and what each body publishes governs. This article is health information, not medical advice, and it cannot make any judgement about any individual's test result or risk. The Centre for Health Protection's Prostate Cancer Prevention and Screening — Cancer Prevention Series 5 puts the point about symptoms this way: "You should consult a doctor as soon as possible if you develop any of the above symptoms."