Like Nords - I come from a family that lost the genetic dice roll when it comes to cancer. So that factors my opinion on this.
I do think family history should play a part. I'm female so I have ZERO risk of PC. But my cousin beat the odds by being fairly young (was 43 or so) when he had an elevated PSA, and it turned out to be cancer. He's fine after treatment. (And happily married for whatever that works... so it looks like no longterm issues from treatment.)
My dad had PC as his first cancer. Radiation treatment cured him. He was cancer free for another decade, remarried after my mom died, and I know more than a child should know that it did not effect his sex life. (He was so happy when he met my step mom.)
Unfortunately, he got a completely unrelated cancer, Multiple Myeloma.
My brother had melanoma stage 2 when he was in college, after skin grafts and a lymph node removal he was fine. He died at age 48 of an unrelated, very obscure, VERY aggressive Neuorendocrine Carcinoma.
My mother had normal CA125 levels and had raging ovarian cancer. She died age 67.
I flunked a blood occult test at age 41. Sigmoidascope turned up 7 pre-cancerous polyps - 2 were too big to get with the sigmoidascope so I got to go back for a colonoscopy. I'm now on the 5 year plan of colonoscopies. If I'd not had the blood occult test, they might not have found the polyps... I was a decade younger than the normal first colonoscopy.
3 of my 4 grandparents died of cancer. 2 were in their early 60's.
Because of all this I paid, out of my own pocket, for a BRCAA test. Negative thank goodness. Money well spent for peace of mind.
My HMO has guidelines that suggest mammogram every 5 years and pap every 5. But for me- they have me come in every year. My doctor was smart enough to recognize a family pattern.
One of my big reasons for wanting to retire early is because of my mom's age at death, as well as my paternal grandmother (breast cancer, age 63), paternal grandfather (age 72 lung cancer) , and maternal grandfather (age 71 leukemia). I budget for age 100, but realistically know I'll be lucky to make 80.
Statistics are great in general... but specific family history to should be considered as well.
I'll keep getting my mamogram, pap, and colonoscopies. I'd rather catch it early than late.