Doctors can also detect prostate tumors through digital rectal exams or ultrasound imaging, the report said. Symptoms of the disease include problems urinating, frequent or painful urination, painful ejaculation or a persistent ache in the back, hips or pelvis, according to the National Cancer Institute.

The PSA exam searches for high levels of prostate-specific antigens in the blood. In a 2010 survey, 53 percent of American men older than 40 reported taking the test in the prior two years, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The panel based its recommendations largely on a U.S. study of 77,000 men who were screened and a European review of 182,000. In the U.S., researchers found no evidence the test reduced deaths. The European trial found the exam lowered the mortality rate. The improvement was due solely to results from Sweden and the Netherlands, while patients in five other countries fared no better after testing, the task force said.

"A substantial percentage of men who have asymptomatic cancer detected by PSA screening have a tumor that either will not progress or will progress so slowly that it would have remained asymptomatic for the man's lifetime," the panel said.

One In 1,000

Screening and early treatment prevent no more than one death in a 1,000, they said. Surgery and radiation to combat tumors, meanwhile, cause at least 200 cases of incontinence and erectile dysfunction per 1,000 patients, while as many as five men in 1,000 die within a month of a prostate operation.

The report ignored problems with the U.S. and European data as well as benefits beyond simply avoiding death, said nine doctors who challenged the findings in a second editorial.

The recommendation "could result in delayed diagnosis of curable cancer in young men who may then present with advanced disease, illness and death," said the physicians, led by William Catalona, a professor of urology at Northwestern University in Chicago. "Elimination of reimbursement for PSA testing would take us back to an era when prostate cancer was often discovered at advanced and incurable stages."

Medicare Policy

Prostate cancer screening remains covered "at this time" under Medicare, the U.S. insurance plan for the elderly and disabled, Ellen Griffith, a spokeswoman for the program, said.

Medicare recommends that men discuss the risks and benefits with their doctors, she said in an e-mail before the release of the recommendations. The task force report doesn't require any action on Medicare's part, she said.