The first NHS screening programme for prostate cancer could be given the green light this week, marking a game-changing opportunity to save thousands of lives.
On Thursday, the Government’s National Screening Committee (NSC) will meet to make a decision that could revolutionise early detection and treatment.
The country’s top oncologists, economists and medical ethicists are expected to issue a recommendation on whether to roll out widespread screening in a bid to catch the disease earlier.
But it would likely only be approved for people at highest risk – such as those with a family history or particular genes.
Prostate cancer is the most common form of the disease in men, with around 63,000 diagnoses and 12,000 deaths each year in the UK.
The Daily Mail has long campaigned for a national screening programme – similar to that in place for breast, bowel and cervical cancer – to be implemented.
This call has been backed by Olympic cycling great Sir Chris Hoy, who was diagnosed with stage four prostate cancer in September 2023.
The NHS currently uses PSA (prostate specific antigen) blood testing and MRI scans to check for the disease.
The Daily Mail is campaigning to end needless prostate cancer deaths and has called for a national screening programme to be introduced
Previously there were concerns that screening could lead to overdiagnosis – but advances in technology means this is now less of an issue.
Major studies have found that screening for prostate cancer slashes the risk of dying from the disease by 13 per cent and leads to a ‘sustained’ drop in deaths over several decades.
Researchers from University Medical Centre Rotterdam discovered that one death was prevented for every 456 men invited for PSA tests.
Writing in the New England Journal Of Medicine, the team said their study ‘highlights the need for a more targeted strategy’.
Meanwhile, a separate study has found the health service could offer targeted prostate cancer checks at just £18 a patient – lower than the cost of breast cancer screening.
The report, from Prostate Cancer Research, said a targeted screening programme is likely to increase demand for PSA blood tests, MRI scans and biopsies by 23 per cent and this would be ‘manageable’ with a small increase in NHS staff.
David James, a director at the charity, says ‘we now have overwhelming evidence to back screening’, adding: ‘No man should die just because his cancer wasn’t found in time.’
The most likely outcome of Thursday’s committee meeting is a targeted screening programme for men at the highest risk of prostate cancer including black men, those with a family history of the disease or who have particular genetic mutations.
The NHS currently uses PSA (prostate specific antigen) blood testing and MRI scans to check for the disease (file image)
‘The recommendation from the UK National Screening Committee will be a pivotal moment in the history of men’s health in this country, and it can’t come a moment too soon,’ Chiara De Biase, director of health services at Prostate Cancer UK, told the Daily Mail.
‘Prostate cancer is curable if found early, but 12,000 of our dads, brothers, sons and friends die from it each year.
‘It’s the most common cancer in England, and yet it is the last major cancer without a screening programme.
‘We’ve reached a tipping point in the UK, with too many men dying from a curable disease and worse outcomes for men at higher risk like Black men and men from working class communities. It’s about time for a change.’
Last week, the first men were invited to join a ‘game-changing’ prostate cancer screening trial that will compare combinations of the most promising techniques.
More than 300,000 men will be recruited to the £42million Transform project, which is the biggest prostate cancer screening trial in 20 years.
About 16,000 men will be recruited for the first stage, which will compare a mix of PSA tests, genetic spit tests and fast MRI scans against the current NHS diagnostic pathway.
The approaches that prove most effective will then be tested in a much larger group.
Sir Chris Hoy has called for systemic change in the ways men get tested for prostate cancer after being diagnosed himself
Health secretary Wes Streeting said the launch of the trial ‘marks a turning point’, with the prospect of more patients being diagnosed early when the disease is easier to treat and survival chances are higher.
‘When the UK National Screening Committee share their initial findings on screening for prostate cancer, I will look carefully at their recommendations as I am determined to bring about change,’ he said.
It is thought that a screening programme – if recommended – would take three to five years to implement.
Professor Nick James has said the case for PSA screening is getting ‘increasingly strong’, adding that the data is ‘already sufficient’ for a national programme.
Former Conservative prime minister Rishi Sunak has argued that a prostate cancer screening programme would have a ‘generational impact’ on men’s health, adding: ‘It’s time to move from reactive care to proactive prevention.’
