{"id":589402,"date":"2025-11-23T20:27:21","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T20:27:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/589402\/"},"modified":"2025-11-23T20:27:21","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T20:27:21","slug":"prostate-cancer-screening-programme-could-be-given-the-green-light-this-week-in-game-changing-opportunity-to-save-thousands-of-lives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/589402\/","title":{"rendered":"Prostate cancer screening programme could be given the green light this week in game-changing opportunity to save thousands of lives"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first NHS<\/a> screening programme for prostate cancer<\/a> could be given the green light this week, marking a game-changing opportunity to save thousands of lives.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, the government\u2019s National Screening Committee (NSC) will meet to make a decision that could revolutionise early detection and treatment.<\/p>\n

The country\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

But it would likely only be approved for people at highest risk \u2013 such as those with a family history or particular genes.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The Daily Mail has long campaigned for a national screening programme \u2013 similar to that in place for breast, bowel and cervical cancer \u2013 to be implemented.<\/p>\n

This call has been backed by Olympic cycling great Sir Chris Hoy, who was diagnosed with stage four prostate cancer in September 2023.<\/p>\n

The NHS currently uses PSA (prostate specific antigen) blood testing and MRI scans to check for the disease.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The Daily Mail is campaigning to end needless prostate cancer deaths and has called for a national screening programme to be introduced<\/p>\n

Previously there were concerns that screening could lead to overdiagnosis \u2013 but advances in technology means this is now less of an issue.<\/p>\n

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 \u2018sustained\u2019 drop in deaths over several decades.<\/p>\n

Researchers from University Medical Centre Rotterdam discovered that one death was prevented for every 456 men invited for PSA tests.<\/p>\n

Writing in the New England Journal of Medicine, the team said their study ‘highlights the need for a more targeted strategy’.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a separate study has found the health service could offer targeted prostate cancer checks at just \u00a318 a patient \u2013 lower than the cost of breast cancer screening.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

David James, a director at the charity, says \u2018we now have overwhelming evidence to back screening\u2019, adding: \u2018No man should die just because his cancer wasn\u2019t found in time.\u2019<\/p>\n

The most likely outcome of Thursday\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The NHS currently uses PSA (prostate specific antigen) blood testing and MRI scans to check for the disease (file image)\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018The recommendation from the UK National Screening Committee will be a pivotal moment in the history of men\u2019s health in this country, and it can\u2019t come a moment too soon,\u2019 Chiara De Biase, director of health services at Prostate Cancer UK, told the Daily Mail.<\/p>\n

\u2018Prostate cancer is curable if found early, but 12,000 of our dads, brothers, sons and friends die from it each year.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s the most common cancer in England, and yet it is the last major cancer without a screening programme.<\/p>\n

\u2018We’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\u2019s about time for a change.\u2019<\/p>\n

Last week, the first men were invited to join a \u2018game-changing\u2019 prostate cancer screening trial that will compare combinations of the most promising techniques.<\/p>\n

More than 300,000 men will be recruited to the \u00a342 million Transform project, which is the biggest prostate cancer screening trial in 20 years.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The approaches that prove most effective will then be tested in a much larger group.<\/p>\n

\"Sir <\/p>\n

Sir Chris Hoy has called for systemic change in the ways men get tested for prostate cancer after being diagnosed himself<\/p>\n

Health secretary Wes Streeting said the launch of the trial \u2018marks a turning point\u2019, with the prospect of more patients being diagnosed early when the disease is easier to treat and survival chances are higher.<\/p>\n

\u2018When 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,\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n

It is thought that a screening programme \u2013 if recommended \u2013 would take three to five years to implement.<\/p>\n

Professor Nick James has said the case for PSA screening is getting \u2018increasingly strong\u2019, adding that the data is \u2018already sufficient\u2019 for a national programme.<\/p>\n

Former Conservative prime minister Rishi Sunak has argued that a prostate cancer screening programme would have a \u2018generational impact\u2019 on men\u2019s health, adding: \u2018It\u2019s time to move from reactive care to proactive prevention.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The first NHS screening programme for prostate cancer could be given the green light this week, marking a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":589403,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[92,105,261,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-589402","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-dailymail","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-sciencetech","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115600900978642035","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=589402"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589402\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/589403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=589402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=589402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=589402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}