The change puts new weight behind a message NFL Hall of Famer and New York Giants legend Harry Carson, 72, has spent years delivering. The former linebacker urged men to get screened long before his own diagnosis, and in 2025, a routine PSA test caught his prostate cancer early, according to Hackensack Meridian Health, where he was treated. Today, he’s cancer-free.

Harry Carson’s Prostate Cancer Journey

According to WBGO, Carson, who played for the Giants from 1976 to 1988, captained the team and made nine Pro Bowls before his 2006 induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Carson’s cancer was caught thanks to a decades-long habit: after 30 years of annual check-ups, a routine screening in 2025 showed his PSA level had risen, according to Hackensack Meridian Health.

Further testing confirmed intermediate-risk prostate cancer, according to the hospital. Carson and his urologist and friend, Dr. Michael Stifelman, chair of urology at Hackensack University Medical Center, weighed his options together. Given his age and excellent health, they chose a robotic single-port prostatectomy, a minimally invasive surgery to remove the prostate.

Because his cancer was caught early, Carson skipped chemotherapy and radiation entirely, and he is now considered cancer-free with an excellent prognosis, CURE reported.

Fittingly, the Giants celebrated his recovery in September 2025 at their Crucial Catch game, part of the NFL’s cancer awareness campaign, according to WBGO.

“This will not bring Harry Carson down,” Dr. Stifelman said, according to Hackensack Meridian Health.

“Cancer does not care whether you’re a Hall of Famer or somebody living on the street,” Carson previously told WGRZ-TV.

His advice to men: don’t wait to get screened, and remember who’s counting on you. He told the station, “It’s not about you, it’s about the people who love you and care for you. It’s about your mother, it’s about your wife, it’s about your significant other and so forth.”

Carson described his own cancer as slow-growing to WGRZ-TV but noted that other men may face a more aggressive form of the disease.

“You really need to take care of it as soon as possible if you’re diagnosed,” he said.

From ‘Talk to Your Doctor’ to ‘Get Tested’: What Changed

Carson’s story is exactly the kind of outcome the ACS hopes its new guidelines will make more common.

For 16 years, the organization’s advice on PSA testing stopped short of an actual recommendation. Since 2010, it had told men at average risk to weigh the pros and cons with their doctors and decide for themselves, according to the Associated Press. That hesitation stemmed from potential harms, such as unnecessary biopsies and overtreatment of slow-growing cancers that might never have caused problems, according to AARP.

So what tipped the balance? According to Dr. Robert Smith, director of the ACS Center for Early Cancer Detection, who spoke with AARP, researchers now have stronger evidence that regular PSA testing means fewer men develop advanced prostate cancer or die from it, and doctors have better ways to avoid treating cancers that don’t need it.

Here’s how the new recommendations, published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, apply to different men, according to the ACS:

• Most men 50 to 69 (average risk): A PSA blood test every two years.
• Black men: A yearly test from 45 through 69.
• Men with a family history: Screening from 45 through 69, every year or every two years depending on how many relatives were diagnosed and at what age.
• Men 70 to 74: A decision made with their provider; those who continue should test every two years.
• Men 75 and older: Screening isn’t recommended, and it’s discouraged after 80.
• Men in poor health not expected to live at least 10 more years: Screening isn’t recommended at any age.

We’d also like to note that the ACS projects approximately 333,830 new prostate cancer diagnoses among U.S. men this year and about 36,320 deaths.

The Men Who Should Start at 45

For some men, waiting until 50 is too late. The new ACS guideline sets an earlier starting age of 45 for those at higher risk.

That includes all Black men, who the ACS now says should be tested annually from 45 until 70.

Family history counts too, and the guideline weighs it in detail. Non-Black men whose father, brother or son has been diagnosed with prostate cancer also begin at 45 and continue through 69. How often depends on the pattern: a relative diagnosed young (before 65), or more than one affected relative, calls for yearly testing, according to the ACS. A single relative diagnosed at 65 or later means testing every other year.

A Patient Guide To Prostate Cancer Testing

Genetics can shift the timeline as well. Men with an inherited mutation tied to prostate cancer, such as in the BRCA2 gene, and untested men whose close relative carries one, should work out a screening schedule with their provider, the ACS advises.

Encouraging higher-risk men to get checked is a message Carson has championed for years. At Hackensack Meridian Health’s annual men’s health events, which offer free screenings, he has urged men, especially African American men, to get tested.

At 71 when his cancer was found, Carson fell into what the new guideline treats as a gray zone. For men 70 to 74, the ACS says it’s less clear whether screening’s benefits outweigh its harms, so continuing becomes a personal decision made with a provider, with testing every other year for those who do.

From 75 on, the ACS no longer recommends routine screening, aside from some very healthy men up to 79 after a talk with their doctor, and past 80, it advises against screening entirely.

Understanding the PSA Test

The PSA test is a simple blood test that measures the level of prostate-specific antigen in your blood. PSA is a protein made by both normal and cancerous prostate cells. A higher PSA doesn’t always mean cancer, but it can signal increased risk.

Under the new guideline, the ACS considers a PSA high if it is 3 ng/mL or higher for men younger than 70, or 6.5 ng/mL or higher for men 70 and older.

What Happens if My PSA Test is Elevated?

Many non-cancerous conditions can also raise PSA levels, including an enlarged prostate, inflammation of the prostate (prostatitis), recent ejaculation, a urinary tract infection or even vigorous bike riding.

If your PSA is high, the ACS says:

• The test should be repeated to confirm the result, ideally two weeks to three months later.
• If it’s still high, most men should get a prostate MRI and/or a biomarker test to help determine whether a biopsy is needed.
• Men with a very high PSA may go straight to a biopsy.

The ACS no longer recommends the digital rectal exam (DRE) as a screening test, though a doctor may still perform one as part of follow-up testing.

And if prostate cancer is found but has a low risk of growing or spreading, the ACS says doctors should offer active surveillance (closely monitoring the cancer instead of treating it right away) as the first option. That approach can help men avoid or delay side effects of treatment while still allowing the cancer to be treated if it becomes higher risk.

Dr. Sanjay Razdan, a robotic prostate cancer surgeon in Miami, previously told SurvivorNet that screening should be a collaboration among many medical professionals.

“Everyone has to be involved in this [screening]. The primary care physicians, the gatekeepers, the family practitioners, the urologists, and the oncologists have to be involved in this thing,” Dr. Razdan said.

WATCH: A Message Of Hope For Men Fighting Advanced Prostate Cancer

Questions To Ask Your Doctor

• Do I need to be screened for prostate cancer?
• My father had prostate cancer. Should I be screened earlier?
• I am concerned about having prostate cancer. Can I have a PSA test ordered?
• My PSA value is within the normal range. Does this mean I don’t have prostate disease?
• What are my options is my PSA level is above normal?
• How often should I have my PSA measured?

Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff

Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.

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