PSA can be used to indicate your risk of having prostate cancer at some time in the future. Studies have shown that a PSA in men 44–50 years old predicts a diagnosis of prostate cancer up to 25 years later.

For men aged 50–70 years, a PSA of greater than 1.5 ng/mL may indicate a higher than average risk of developing prostate cancer in the future, and so be a guide to the need for regular PSA testing.

One study suggests that a single PSA at the age of 60 years can predict the risk of a metastatic prostate cancer over a man’s lifetime. This is a developing area and there are no firm guidelines as yet.