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Mass screening for prostate cancer doesn't save lives and probably causes more harm than good.

Short summary (source: recent review in the BMJ)

Major evidence based guidelines recommend against the prostate specific antigen (PSA) blood test for prostate cancer screening because:

• The test is unlikely to prevent you from dying of prostate cancer over 10-15 years or help you live longer
• Elevated PSA values are common and lead to additional tests that have harms
• PSA testing finds many cancers that will not cause health problems
• Once we find cancer it is hard not to treat it
• Treatments have harms that occur early, can be serious, and may persist, but have very little, if any, benefit
• By choosing not to have the PSA test you can live a similar length of life, have little to no difference in your risk of dying from prostate cancer, and avoid the harms associated with tests, procedures, and treatments

Mass screening for prostate cancer doesn't save lives and probably causes more harm than good.

• The test is unlikely to prevent you from dying of prostate cancer over 10-15 years or help you live longer
• Elevated PSA values are common and lead to additional tests that have harms
• PSA testing finds many cancers that will not cause health problems
• Once we find cancer it is hard not to treat it
• Treatments have harms that occur early, can be serious, and may persist, but have very little, if any, benefit
• By choosing not to have the PSA test you can live a similar length of life, have little to no difference in your risk of dying from prostate cancer, and avoid the harms associated with tests, procedures, and treatments

• The test is unlikely to prevent you from dying of prostate cancer over 10-15 years or help you live longer
• Elevated PSA values are common and lead to additional tests that have harms
• PSA testing finds many cancers that will not cause health problems
• Once we find cancer it is hard not to treat it
• Treatments have harms that occur early, can be serious, and may persist, but have very little, if any, benefit
• By choosing not to have the PSA test you can live a similar length of life, have little to no difference in your risk of dying from prostate cancer, and avoid the harms associated with tests, procedures, and treatments

Update

A recent review in the BMJ in early 2013 adds to the consensus evidence above. The abstract concludes:

Prostate cancer screening with the PSA blood test results in at most a small reduction in prostate cancer mortality and leads to considerable diagnostic and treatment related harms Physicians should recommend against PSA screening for prostate cancer Most men with prostate cancer detected by PSA testing have tumours that will not cause health problems (overdiagnosed), but almost all undergo early treatment (overtreated).

It also suggests a useful guide for physicians who want to be honest with their patients about the issues:

Prostate cancer screening messages for men Major evidence based guidelines recommend against the prostate specific antigen (PSA) blood test for prostate cancer screening because:

• The test is unlikely to prevent you from dying of prostate cancer over 10-15 years or help you live longer
• Elevated PSA values are common and lead to additional tests that have harms
• PSA testing finds many cancers that will not cause health problems
• Once we find cancer it is hard not to treat it
• Treatments have harms that occur early, can be serious, and may persist, but have very little, if any, benefit
• By choosing not to have the PSA test you can live a similar length of life, have little to no difference in your risk of dying from prostate cancer, and avoid the harms associated with tests, procedures, and treatments

This seems to summarise the situation well.