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In just a couple weeks, Rishi Gupta, 57, will start undergoing treatment for prostate cancer. The tumor was found using a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test, a blood test that measures the likelihood of cancer.

The tumor is in an early stage but is still potentially aggressive, and
Gupta believes would not have been caught without a regular screening.

"When they did the biopsy, they found positive cancer. So I'm actually very thankful that the PSA enabled them to catch it," says Gupta.

Yet some of the latest studies have put PSA tests used to screen for prostate cancer in question, claiming not enough lives are saved and too many are given unnecessary treatments.

However, many doctors point to flaws in that research and still recommend routine screenings for most men over 50 years old, and as age 40 for black men and men with a family history.

Gupta's physician, Dr. Simon Hall, the chairman of the urology department at Mount Sinai Medical Center, agrees with widespread use of PSA tests.

"Until we have a better test I still think having a PSA once a year and a rectal exam once a year are still what we would recommend," says Hall. "We know the mortality rates since we've been using PSA have significantly decreased because we find the cancers early."

Hall points out, though, that an abnormal PSA does not necessarily mean cancer.

"We know there is a lot of fluctuation to the PSA. Most of us would recommend if it goes to be abnormal that we could repeat it in a few months to make sure it is truly a rise," says Hall. "We know from many studies that half the men who will have an abnormal PSA one year will have a normal PSA the following year."

More than one in six American men get a prostate cancer diagnosis at some point in their lives. The trouble is with all the current screening tools is that it's difficult for doctors to determine just how aggressive many cancers are, and therefore how aggressive the treatment should be.

Hall says ultimately what is needed are better screening tools to figure out who really needs treatment and who doesn't.

One newer option is focal therapy, where only cancerous parts of the prostate are removed.

"If we could figure out if they really have a small cancer, and maybe not just not treating it, perhaps we could do some new treatments that are being explored in clinical trials. We just treat the cancer only because it is so small," says Hall.

In the end, every individual is different, and when it comes to making choices about screening and treatment, Hall stresses seeking more than one opinion to help make the best decision.