12 cancer screening tests India doctors recommend

7. Prostate cancer screening: PSA testing with careful discussion

Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing is widely available, but routine population screening is controversial because PSA can be elevated for reasons other than cancer and may lead to unnecessary biopsies. Many doctors in India follow a shared decision-making model: discuss risks and benefits with men aged 50 and above, or from 45 for those with family history or African ancestry. If chosen, PSA is a simple blood test; abnormal results may prompt referral to a urologist for digital rectal exam (DRE), repeat testing, imaging or biopsy. Private PSA tests typically cost a few hundred to a couple thousand rupees.