Prostate-cancer screening for men 75 or older shouldn’t be routine, an American advisory panel recommended, saying the benefits of early detection don’t outweigh the potential side effects of treatment.

“Insufficient” evidence exists to say whether regular screening helps men younger than 75 either, the Preventive Services Task Force said yesterday in a statement in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Those men should discuss risks, such as a family history of cancer, and benefits with their doctors, the panel said.

Routine blood testing for prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, has been the subject of debate, with advocates of screening saying it saves lives and opponents arguing that prostate cancer often grows so slow that it doesn’t merit treatment.

“Most prostate cancer grows very slowly, and many men with prostate cancer die of something else before the prostate cancer causes a problem,” the task force said. “Early detection, however, puts men at risk for unnecessary worry and side effects of treatments,” including impotence, incontinence, and bowel problems.

In 2002, the panel said there wasn’t enough evidence about the costs and benefits of the test. After reviewing 10 studies done in the interim, the task force today said there still wasn’t enough evidence to give definitive advice in all cases.