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Screening for Prostate Cancer...

Screening for Prostate Cancer in Older Patients (PLCO Screening Trial)

Last Updated: 2025-07-23

Study Results

Results available

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Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING

Clinical Phase

Total Enrollment

76685 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

1993-11-16

Study Completion Date

2026-03-25

Brief Summary

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This clinical trial studies whether screening methods used to diagnose cancer of the prostate, lung, colon, rectum, or ovaries can reduce deaths from these cancers. Screening tests may help doctors find cancer cells early and plan better treatment for prostate cancer.

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Detailed Description

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PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To determine whether screening with digital rectal examination (DRE) plus serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) can reduce mortality from prostate cancer in men aged 55-74 at entry.

SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To assess screening variables, other than mortality, for each of the interventions including sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value.

II. To assess the incidence, stage, and survival of cancer cases. III. To investigate the mortality predictive value of biologic and/or prognostic characterizations of tumor tissue as intermediate endpoints.

IV. To conduct biomolecular and genetic research into factors associated with cancer carcinogenesis and promotion, as well as the early detection of these factors.

OUTLINE: Participants in the overall PLCO study are stratified by screening center, gender, and age (55-59 vs 60-64 vs 65-69 vs 70-74). Participants are randomized to 1 of 2 arms (control vs screening).

ARM I (Control): Participants receive standard medical care. Participants complete a Diet History Questionnaire (DHQ) at baseline.

ARM II (Prostate Screening): Participants undergo blood sample collection for PSA analysis at baseline and annually for 5 years. Serum that is not used in the study will be stored in an NCI biorepository. Participants also undergo a DRE at baseline and annually for 3 years. A scheduling and tracking procedure is implemented to ensure regular attendance at repeat screens for participants screened negative or for those who are designated suspicious or positive at screening but for whom subsequent diagnostic procedures do not reveal prostate cancer (follow-up diagnostic procedures are through their own medical care environment). Participants diagnosed with prostate cancer via a screening test are referred for treatment in accordance with current accepted practice for appropriate stage of disease, patient age, and medical condition; a procedure is provided for contact with qualified medical personnel to insure appropriate therapy.

Participants complete a Dietary Questionnaire (DQX) at baseline and DHQ at year 3. An Annual Study Update (ADU) (previously referred to as the Periodic Survey of Health \[PSH\] questionnaire) is mailed to each participant annually for 13 years to identify all prevalent and incident prostate cancers as all deaths that occur among both screened and control subjects during the trial.

After completion of screening, participants are followed up for at least 13 years.

Conditions

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Prostate Carcinoma

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

SCREENING

Blinding Strategy

SINGLE

Investigators

Study Groups

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Control

Participants receive standard medical care. Participants complete a DHQ at baseline.

Group Type NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Prostate Screening

Participants undergo blood sample collection for PSA analysis at baseline and annually for 5 years. Serum that is not used in the study will be stored in an NCI biorepository. Participants also undergo a DRE at baseline and annually for 3 years. Participants complete a DQX at baseline and DHQ at year 3. An ADU (previously referred to as the PSH questionnaire) is mailed to each participant annually for 13 years to identify all prevalent and incident prostate cancers as all deaths that occur among both screened and control subjects during the trial.

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Laboratory Biomarker Analysis

Intervention Type OTHER

Correlative studies

Medical Examination Assessment

Intervention Type PROCEDURE

Undergo DRE

Screening Questionnaire Administration

Intervention Type OTHER

Undergo questionnaire assessments

Interventions

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Laboratory Biomarker Analysis

Correlative studies

Intervention Type OTHER

Medical Examination Assessment

Undergo DRE

Intervention Type PROCEDURE

Screening Questionnaire Administration

Undergo questionnaire assessments

Intervention Type OTHER

Other Intervention Names

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Exam Examination Health Assessment Health Examination Health Status Assessment Medical Assessment Medical Exam Medical Inspection

Eligibility Criteria

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Exclusion Criteria

* Men who at the time of randomization are less than 55 or greater than or equal to 75 years of age
* Individuals undergoing treatment for cancer at this time, excluding basal-cell and squamous-cell skin cancer
* Individuals with known prior cancer of the colon, rectum, lung, prostate

* This includes primary or metastatic PLCO cancers
* Individuals with previous surgical removal of the entire colon, one lung, or the entire prostate
* Individuals who are participating in another cancer screening or cancer primary prevention trial
* Males who have taken Proscar/Propecia/finasteride in the past 6 months

* NOTE: Individuals who are already enrolled in the trial when their physician prescribes finasteride are not prevented from taking this medication. As a result, these participants will continue to be screened and followed just as those participants who are not on finasteride.
* NOTE: Men who are taking Tamoxifen are not excluded from any part of the PLCO Screening Trial.
* Individuals who are unwilling or unable to sign the informed consent form
* Males who have had more than one PSA blood test in the past three years
* Individuals who have had a colonoscopy, sigmoidoscopy, or barium enema in the past three years

Minimum Eligible Age

55 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

74 Years

Eligible Sex

MALE

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Responsible Party

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Responsibility Role SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

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Christine D Berg

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

National Cancer Institute (NCI)

Locations

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National Institutes of Health Clinical Center

Bethesda, Maryland, United States

Site Status

Countries

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United States

References

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Fan Z, Zhang Y, Yao Q, Liu X, Duan H, Liu Y, Sheng C, Lyu Z, Yang L, Song F, Huang Y, Song F. Effects of joint screening for prostate, lung, colorectal, and ovarian cancer - results from a controlled trial. Front Oncol. 2024 Apr 29;14:1322044. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2024.1322044. eCollection 2024.

Reference Type DERIVED

PMID: 38741776 (View on PubMed)

Jiang Y, Xie Q, Chen R. Breast Cancer Incidence and Mortality in Relation to Hormone Replacement Therapy Use Among Postmenopausal Women: Results From a Prospective Cohort Study. Clin Breast Cancer. 2022 Feb;22(2):e206-e213. doi: 10.1016/j.clbc.2021.06.010. Epub 2021 Jun 26.

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PMID: 34548240 (View on PubMed)

Pinsky PF, Durham D, Strassels S. Opioid and Other Medication Use and General Health Status in a Cohort of Older Adults. Gerontology. 2021;67(5):554-562. doi: 10.1159/000513731. Epub 2021 Mar 10.

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PMID: 33691305 (View on PubMed)

Wang K, Wu Q, Li Z, Reger MK, Xiong Y, Zhong G, Li Q, Zhang X, Li H, Foukakis T, Xiang T, Zhang J, Ren G. Vitamin K intake and breast cancer incidence and death: results from a prospective cohort study. Clin Nutr. 2021 May;40(5):3370-3378. doi: 10.1016/j.clnu.2020.11.009. Epub 2020 Nov 16.

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PMID: 33277073 (View on PubMed)

Pinsky PF, Miller EA, Zhu CS, Prorok PC. Overall mortality in men and women in the randomized Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial. J Med Screen. 2019 Sep;26(3):127-134. doi: 10.1177/0969141319839097. Epub 2019 Apr 3. No abstract available.

Reference Type DERIVED

PMID: 30943843 (View on PubMed)

Pierre-Victor D, Pinsky PF. Association of Nonadherence to Cancer Screening Examinations With Mortality From Unrelated Causes: A Secondary Analysis of the PLCO Cancer Screening Trial. JAMA Intern Med. 2019 Feb 1;179(2):196-203. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2018.5982.

Reference Type DERIVED

PMID: 30592477 (View on PubMed)

Miller EA, Pinsky PF, Schoen RE, Prorok PC, Church TR. Effect of flexible sigmoidoscopy screening on colorectal cancer incidence and mortality: long-term follow-up of the randomised US PLCO cancer screening trial. Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2019 Feb;4(2):101-110. doi: 10.1016/S2468-1253(18)30358-3. Epub 2018 Nov 29.

Reference Type DERIVED

PMID: 30502933 (View on PubMed)

Click B, Pinsky PF, Hickey T, Doroudi M, Schoen RE. Association of Colonoscopy Adenoma Findings With Long-term Colorectal Cancer Incidence. JAMA. 2018 May 15;319(19):2021-2031. doi: 10.1001/jama.2018.5809.

Reference Type DERIVED

PMID: 29800214 (View on PubMed)

Schoen RE, Razzak A, Yu KJ, Berndt SI, Firl K, Riley TL, Pinsky PF. Incidence and mortality of colorectal cancer in individuals with a family history of colorectal cancer. Gastroenterology. 2015 Nov;149(6):1438-1445.e1. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2015.07.055. Epub 2015 Aug 5.

Reference Type DERIVED

PMID: 26255045 (View on PubMed)

Guertin KA, Loftfield E, Boca SM, Sampson JN, Moore SC, Xiao Q, Huang WY, Xiong X, Freedman ND, Cross AJ, Sinha R. Serum biomarkers of habitual coffee consumption may provide insight into the mechanism underlying the association between coffee consumption and colorectal cancer. Am J Clin Nutr. 2015 May;101(5):1000-11. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.114.096099. Epub 2015 Mar 11.

Reference Type DERIVED

PMID: 25762808 (View on PubMed)

Kvale PA, Johnson CC, Tammemagi M, Marcus PM, Zylak CJ, Spizarny DL, Hocking W, Oken M, Commins J, Ragard L, Hu P, Berg C, Prorok P. Interval lung cancers not detected on screening chest X-rays: How are they different? Lung Cancer. 2014 Oct;86(1):41-6. doi: 10.1016/j.lungcan.2014.07.013. Epub 2014 Jul 24.

Reference Type DERIVED

PMID: 25123333 (View on PubMed)

Guertin KA, Moore SC, Sampson JN, Huang WY, Xiao Q, Stolzenberg-Solomon RZ, Sinha R, Cross AJ. Metabolomics in nutritional epidemiology: identifying metabolites associated with diet and quantifying their potential to uncover diet-disease relations in populations. Am J Clin Nutr. 2014 Jul;100(1):208-17. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.113.078758. Epub 2014 Apr 16.

Reference Type DERIVED

PMID: 24740205 (View on PubMed)

Major JM, Yu K, Weinstein SJ, Berndt SI, Hyland PL, Yeager M, Chanock S, Albanes D. Genetic variants reflecting higher vitamin e status in men are associated with reduced risk of prostate cancer. J Nutr. 2014 May;144(5):729-33. doi: 10.3945/jn.113.189928. Epub 2014 Mar 12.

Reference Type DERIVED

PMID: 24623848 (View on PubMed)

Hocking WG, Tammemagi MC, Commins J, Oken MM, Kvale PA, Hu P, Ragard LR, Riley TL, Pinsky P, Beck TM, Prorok PC. Diagnostic evaluation following a positive lung screening chest radiograph in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial. Lung Cancer. 2013 Nov;82(2):238-44. doi: 10.1016/j.lungcan.2013.07.017. Epub 2013 Aug 7.

Reference Type DERIVED

PMID: 23993734 (View on PubMed)

Rogal SS, Pinsky PF, Schoen RE. Relationship between detection of adenomas by flexible sigmoidoscopy and interval distal colorectal cancer. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2013 Jan;11(1):73-8. doi: 10.1016/j.cgh.2012.08.002. Epub 2012 Aug 16.

Reference Type DERIVED

PMID: 22902761 (View on PubMed)

Schoen RE, Pinsky PF, Weissfeld JL, Yokochi LA, Church T, Laiyemo AO, Bresalier R, Andriole GL, Buys SS, Crawford ED, Fouad MN, Isaacs C, Johnson CC, Reding DJ, O'Brien B, Carrick DM, Wright P, Riley TL, Purdue MP, Izmirlian G, Kramer BS, Miller AB, Gohagan JK, Prorok PC, Berg CD; PLCO Project Team. Colorectal-cancer incidence and mortality with screening flexible sigmoidoscopy. N Engl J Med. 2012 Jun 21;366(25):2345-57. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1114635. Epub 2012 May 21.

Reference Type DERIVED

PMID: 22612596 (View on PubMed)

Oken MM, Hocking WG, Kvale PA, Andriole GL, Buys SS, Church TR, Crawford ED, Fouad MN, Isaacs C, Reding DJ, Weissfeld JL, Yokochi LA, O'Brien B, Ragard LR, Rathmell JM, Riley TL, Wright P, Caparaso N, Hu P, Izmirlian G, Pinsky PF, Prorok PC, Kramer BS, Miller AB, Gohagan JK, Berg CD; PLCO Project Team. Screening by chest radiograph and lung cancer mortality: the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian (PLCO) randomized trial. JAMA. 2011 Nov 2;306(17):1865-73. doi: 10.1001/jama.2011.1591. Epub 2011 Oct 26.

Reference Type DERIVED

PMID: 22031728 (View on PubMed)

Buys SS, Partridge E, Black A, Johnson CC, Lamerato L, Isaacs C, Reding DJ, Greenlee RT, Yokochi LA, Kessel B, Crawford ED, Church TR, Andriole GL, Weissfeld JL, Fouad MN, Chia D, O'Brien B, Ragard LR, Clapp JD, Rathmell JM, Riley TL, Hartge P, Pinsky PF, Zhu CS, Izmirlian G, Kramer BS, Miller AB, Xu JL, Prorok PC, Gohagan JK, Berg CD; PLCO Project Team. Effect of screening on ovarian cancer mortality: the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Randomized Controlled Trial. JAMA. 2011 Jun 8;305(22):2295-303. doi: 10.1001/jama.2011.766.

Reference Type DERIVED

PMID: 21642681 (View on PubMed)

Berg CD. The Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial: the prostate cancer screening results in context. Acta Oncol. 2011 Jun;50 Suppl 1:12-7. doi: 10.3109/0284186X.2010.531283.

Reference Type DERIVED

PMID: 21604935 (View on PubMed)

Pinsky PF, Blacka A, Kramer BS, Miller A, Prorok PC, Berg C. Assessing contamination and compliance in the prostate component of the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial. Clin Trials. 2010 Aug;7(4):303-11. doi: 10.1177/1740774510374091. Epub 2010 Jun 22.

Reference Type DERIVED

PMID: 20571134 (View on PubMed)

Troy JD, Hartge P, Weissfeld JL, Oken MM, Colditz GA, Mechanic LE, Morton LM. Associations between anthropometry, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial. Am J Epidemiol. 2010 Jun 15;171(12):1270-81. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwq085. Epub 2010 May 21.

Reference Type DERIVED

PMID: 20494998 (View on PubMed)

Croswell JM, Kramer BS, Kreimer AR, Prorok PC, Xu JL, Baker SG, Fagerstrom R, Riley TL, Clapp JD, Berg CD, Gohagan JK, Andriole GL, Chia D, Church TR, Crawford ED, Fouad MN, Gelmann EP, Lamerato L, Reding DJ, Schoen RE. Cumulative incidence of false-positive results in repeated, multimodal cancer screening. Ann Fam Med. 2009 May-Jun;7(3):212-22. doi: 10.1370/afm.942.

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PMID: 19433838 (View on PubMed)

Tammemagi MC, Freedman MT, Pinsky PF, Oken MM, Hu P, Riley TL, Ragard LR, Berg CD, Prorok PC. Prediction of true positive lung cancers in individuals with abnormal suspicious chest radiographs: a prostate, lung, colorectal, and ovarian cancer screening trial study. J Thorac Oncol. 2009 Jun;4(6):710-21. doi: 10.1097/JTO.0b013e31819e77ce.

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PMID: 19404219 (View on PubMed)

Partridge E, Kreimer AR, Greenlee RT, Williams C, Xu JL, Church TR, Kessel B, Johnson CC, Weissfeld JL, Isaacs C, Andriole GL, Ogden S, Ragard LR, Buys SS; PLCO Project Team. Results from four rounds of ovarian cancer screening in a randomized trial. Obstet Gynecol. 2009 Apr;113(4):775-782. doi: 10.1097/AOG.0b013e31819cda77.

Reference Type DERIVED

PMID: 19305319 (View on PubMed)

Andriole GL, Crawford ED, Grubb RL 3rd, Buys SS, Chia D, Church TR, Fouad MN, Gelmann EP, Kvale PA, Reding DJ, Weissfeld JL, Yokochi LA, O'Brien B, Clapp JD, Rathmell JM, Riley TL, Hayes RB, Kramer BS, Izmirlian G, Miller AB, Pinsky PF, Prorok PC, Gohagan JK, Berg CD; PLCO Project Team. Mortality results from a randomized prostate-cancer screening trial. N Engl J Med. 2009 Mar 26;360(13):1310-9. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa0810696. Epub 2009 Mar 18.

Reference Type DERIVED

PMID: 19297565 (View on PubMed)

Lacey JV Jr, Kreimer AR, Buys SS, Marcus PM, Chang SC, Leitzmann MF, Hoover RN, Prorok PC, Berg CD, Hartge P; Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial Project Team. Breast cancer epidemiology according to recognized breast cancer risk factors in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial Cohort. BMC Cancer. 2009 Mar 17;9:84. doi: 10.1186/1471-2407-9-84.

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PMID: 19292893 (View on PubMed)

Tammemagi CM, Freedman MT, Church TR, Oken MM, Hocking WG, Kvale PA, Hu P, Riley TL, Ragard LR, Prorok PC, Berg CD. Factors associated with human small aggressive non small cell lung cancer. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2007 Oct;16(10):2082-9. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-07-0251.

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PMID: 17932357 (View on PubMed)

Lacey JV Jr, Greene MH, Buys SS, Reding D, Riley TL, Berg CD, Fagerstrom RM, Hartge P. Ovarian cancer screening in women with a family history of breast or ovarian cancer. Obstet Gynecol. 2006 Nov;108(5):1176-84. doi: 10.1097/01.AOG.0000239105.39149.d8.

Reference Type DERIVED

PMID: 17077240 (View on PubMed)