The first men have been tested as part of a landmark UK trial into the future of prostate cancer screening.<\/p>\n
The Transform trial, funded by Prostate Cancer UK and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), could give results and lead to changes in as little as two years.<\/p>\n
Experts hope it will inform the future of population-wide prostate cancer screening for men by seeing which tests \u2013 such as genetic tests or 10-minute MRI scans \u2013 can be combined.<\/p>\n
It comes as the UK national screening committee (UKNSC), which advises the Government, publishes its final guidance this week on screening men for prostate cancer.<\/p>\n
In a draft recommendation last year, it\u00a0said no to population-wide screening using the prostate specific antigen (PSA) test, saying it \u201cis likely to cause more harm than good\u201d.<\/p>\n
The committee put forward only a recommendation to screen men with BRCA1 and BRCA2 genetic mutations \u2013 which puts them at far higher risk of prostate cancer \u2013 every two years, between the ages of 45 and 61.<\/p>\n
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he was surprised by the move but any final decision needs to be \u201cbased on science and evidence, not on politics\u201d.<\/p>\n
Many experts argue the PSA test is not very reliable because men with a high PSA level may not have cancer and some men with cancer have a normal PSA result.<\/p>\n
A positive test result may lead to unnecessary treatment for slow-growing or harmless tumours, leaving men at risk of side-effects such as incontinence and erectile dysfunction.<\/p>\n
However, others argue current evidence supports wider testing and urged experts to reconsider.<\/p>\n
The UKNSC has agreed to review any new evidence from the Transform trial.<\/p>\n
One of the first people tested in the new Transform trial is Jaroslaw Galik, 55, from London.<\/p>\n
He and other men attended the InHealth community diagnostic centre in Ealing, west London, for a combination of PSA blood tests, fast MRI scans and\/or genetic spit tests to find the safest and most effective way to detect the cancer.<\/p>\n
Mr Galik said: \u201cI\u2019d heard a bit about prostate cancer over the years and had always thought I should probably speak to my GP, but I never actually got round to doing anything about it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere isn\u2019t that routine screening programme, so it just wasn\u2019t something that felt urgent.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the letter about Transform came through, I realised this was a straightforward way to check my own risk while also contributing to something bigger.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf taking part helps move us closer to having a proper screening programme in the future, so men are just invited by their GP like they are for other cancers, that would make such a difference.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo think that just by taking a couple of tests I could be helping to finally get to screening and save thousands of lives is incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Laura Kerby, chief executive of Prostate Cancer UK, said: \u201cMen across the country are crying out for a screening programme and we\u2019re committed to building a future where every man gets that chance.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is why we have driven the development of Transform and funded the \u00a342 million programme, alongside the NIHR.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know that a safe and effective mass screening programme could save thousands of men\u2019s lives and it starts with these men walking through the door today and trialling these tests.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re helping to build a future where prostate cancer is\u00a0found early, consistently and fairly, and where no man\u2019s diagnosis is left to chance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Streeting said: \u201cTransform is the most ambitious prostate cancer research programme in a generation and I\u2019m proud the Government is backing it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe evidence it generates will be crucial in shaping how we screen for this disease for decades to come.\u201d<\/p>\n
The UKNSC has not recommend specific prostate cancer screening for black men \u2013 who are at double the risk of the disease \u2013 because of a current lack of data and evidence for this group.<\/p>\n
The committee also does not recommend targeted screening for men with a family history of the disease, who are also at higher risk of\u00a0prostate\u00a0cancer.<\/p>\n
With Transform, experts hope to gather more data relating to black men and hope one in 10 men invited to take part will be black.<\/p>\n
At first, the trial will test new techniques against current NHS methods.<\/p>\n
The next stage takes the best methods forward to testing in a group of up to 300,000 men.<\/p>\n
Professor Lucy Chappell, chief scientific adviser at the Department of Health\u00a0and chief executive officer of the NIHR, said: \u201cWelcoming the first men to this trial is a huge moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cTransform aims to tackle one of the biggest killers as part of the shift from sickness to prevention.<\/p>\n
\u201cImportantly, the trial will focus on men at highest risk, particularly black men \u2013 a group who face double the risk of developing and dying from prostate cancer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe team is working closely with black community leaders and organisations as part of our commitment to ensure meaningful participation in research among everyone in our society.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The first men have been tested as part of a landmark UK trial into the future of prostate…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":400364,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[78],"tags":[24148,18,135,19,17,181003,95593,181756,2101,7481,181757,181758],"class_list":["post-400363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-early-diagnosis","tag-eire","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-national-institute-for-health-and-care-research","tag-prostate-cancer-screening","tag-prostate-cancer-uk","tag-public-health","tag-screening","tag-transform-trial","tag-uk-national-screening-committee"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116280864835350704","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=400363"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400363\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/400364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=400363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=400363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=400363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}