Looking back at PCPT: looking forward to new paradigms in prostate cancer screening and prevention.

Abstract

Provide a critical summary of the latest interpretation of findings from the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial (PCPT). Findings from PCPT and recently published post-hoc analyses are reviewed. PCPT demonstrated that finasteride can reduce the prevalence of prostate cancer, permitted the first large-scale assessment of the performance characteristics of prostate-specific antigen for prostate cancer screening, and identified new-onset erectile dysfunction as an early predictor of cardiovascular events. PCPT has and will continue to yield valuable information regarding future strategies for prostate cancer prevention and detection, benign prostatic hyperplasia, and other matters of public health importance.