I heard that there is a recommendation against routine psa screening for prostate cancer - but didn't a recent study in nejm show it saves lives?

Yes: The controversy will go on. In primary care while some males don't allow us to do a digital rectal exam (dre) every year, psa is a test that helps to lead a pt towards the acceptance of dre or an urologist evaluation although we know that there is a small percentage of prostate cancers that exist with normal psas <4%>we know that 80% of males have prostate cancer at the age of 80 years old.

Screening: Correct, an update on trial in europe looking at screening shows a benefit with screening, published in new england journal of medicine, march 2012. Moreover, with the introduction of psa testing some 20 years ago, there has been a reduction in prostate cancer mortality in usa as noted in the data collected by the national cancer institute, known as seer data.

Psa: Yes us preventative med task force gives psa a grade of d, i still advise my pts to get psa testing yearly. Especially if they have a family hx.