Mass Screening of Prostate Cancer and its Impact on Inhabitants in Akita Prefecture, Japan

Abstract In 2001, the Akita Medical Association started a prostate cancer (PC) mass screening project for ≥ 50-year-old male inhabitants in individual ­municipalities of Akita Prefecture, utilizing serum prostate-specific antigen. The number of examinees increased from 4321 in 2001 to 29 936 in 2006, while the annual rate of examinees per target inhabitants remained at 11.6 to 16.8 % and the fraction of repeat examinees ­increased up to 77 % in 2006. A total of 944 PCs were screened with a stage B tumor incidence of 84.1 % (range: 82.2 to 86.6 %). The annual PC detection rate was 0.95 to 1.11 % for the first 4 y…