This study reviewed the 1983 to 1995 incidence of prostate cancer in Olmsted County, Minnesota. After checking all community medical records during those years, the researchers discovered that of the 687 men with biopsy-proven prostate cancer, 163 had died from the disease. They found that incidence rates per 100,000 person years had increased from 64 in 1983 to 209 in 1992, before declining to 132 in 1995. Although the incidence of organ-confined cancer increased from 1987 to 1992 before declining to level seen before the prostate specific antigen (PSA) test became available, regional or distant disease showed a consistent downward trend from 1988 through 1995. Community mortality rates per 100,000 men increased initially from 38.5 in 1980 to 48.7 in 1991, then showed a consistent downward trend to 14.5 in 1995. (That figure represented a 62% reduction from the 1980 rate.) According to the investigators, since mortality rates have shown a regular decline in the last 5 years to below pre-PSA rates, inc reased screening for prostate cancer may have had a significant beneficial effect on community mortality rates from this disease.