• All News
• Consumer
• Pro
• New Drugs
• Pipeline
• Clinical Trials
• FDA Alerts

Prostate Cancer Screening Program Beneficial in Top Decile of Polygenic Risk Score

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on April 14, 2025.

MONDAY, April 14, 2025 -- A prostate cancer screening program involving participants in the top decile of risk according to a polygenic risk score identifies clinically significant disease, according to a study published in the April 10 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Jana K. McHugh, M.B., B.Ch., from the Institute of Cancer Research in London, and colleagues recruited people aged 55 to 69 years from primary care centers in the United Kingdom. Irrespective of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level, participants with a polygenic risk score in the 90th percentile or higher were invited to undergo prostate cancer screening with multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and transperineal biopsy.

Overall, 745 participants had a score in the 90th percentile or higher and were invited to undergo screening; 468 (62.8) percent underwent MRI and prostate biopsy and 187 (40.0 percent) had prostate cancer detected. The researchers found that 103 of the 187 participants with cancer (55.1 percent) had prostate cancer classified as intermediate or higher risk according to the 2024 National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) criteria, with treatment indicated. In 74 (71.8 percent) of these participants, cancer would not have been detected according to the diagnostic pathway currently used in the United Kingdom (high PSA level and positive MRI results). Forty participants with cancer (21.4 percent) had disease classified as unfavorable intermediate risk or as high or very high risk according to NCCN criteria.

"Our results show that offering targeted screening to participants in at least the 90th percentile of genetic risk distribution as determined by a polygenic risk score resulted in the detection of prostate cancer warranting clinical management in 55.1 percent of these participants," the authors write.

Abstract/Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)

Editorial (subscription or payment may be required)

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Posted April 2025

More news resources

• FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
• Daily MedNews
• News for Health Professionals
• New Drug Approvals
• New Drug Applications
• Drug Shortages
• Clinical Trial Results
• Generic Drug Approvals

Subscribe to our newsletter

Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.