Wes Streeting today said he wants to introduce prostate cancer screening on the NHS after meeting charities who told him it would save thousands of lives.
The health secretary and Professor Chris Whitty, the UK’s chief medical officer, invited experts to the roundtable event in London to gather a range of views on the issue.
He thanked attendees for their ‘frank conversation’ and stressed he is ‘determined to improve outcomes for men with prostate cancer’, raising hopes he will press ahead with the routine checks.
It comes after the UK National Screening Committee said in November that prostate cancer screening should not be made routinely available for the vast majority of men in the UK.
Mr Streeting has the power to overrule the committee, which is tasked with advising ministers and will issue its final recommendation in March.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in the UK, with 63,000 cases and 12,000 deaths each year – but unlike breast, bowel and lung cancer, there is currently no national screening programme.
The Daily Mail is campaigning to end needless prostate cancer deaths and for a national prostate cancer screening programme, initially targeted at high risk men, such as those who are black, have a family history of the disease or particular genetic mutations.
Following the draft UKNSC decision, Mr Streeting told MPs he would consider the conclusions ‘carefully’ and thrash out the arguments to ‘reach the right way forward’.
Health secretary Wes Streeting thanked doctors and charities for attending the meeting at the Department of Health and Social Care
He also vowed to bring together a new group of experts with differing views before reaching a decision – a commitment he fulfilled today.
Studies show prostate screening slashes men’s risk of dying from the disease by 13 per cent, with one death prevented for every 456 men checked – a figure comparable to existing breast and bowel cancer screening programmes.
The UKNSC’s draft guidance said it would not recommend population screening using the prostate specific antigen (PSA) blood test because it ‘is likely to cause more harm than good’, with too many men undergoing unnecessary biopsies or surgery.
But charity Prostate Cancer Research said the recommendation was a ‘missed opportunity’ and the ‘historical harms’ associated with screening have been dramatically reduced by advances in diagnosis and treatment.
Its chief executive Oliver Kemp has said a delay in widening access to screening would ‘continue to condemn the lives of thousands more men.’
Prostate Cancer Research also warned Mr Streeting that a decision to reject prostate cancer screening on the NHS was based on a model that is ‘not fit for purpose’.
New research commissioned by the charity suggests that the modelling underpinning the draft guidance was ‘incomplete and implausible’, meaning it overstated the risks of over-diagnosis and understated the benefits of screening.
For now, the UKNSC has put forward only a recommendation to screen men with BRCA1 and BRCA2 genetic mutations – which puts them at far higher risk of prostate cancer – every two years, between the ages of 45 and 61.
The Daily Mail is campaigning to end needless prostate deaths and backing prostate cancer screening for men at high risk of the disease
Mr Streeting said: ‘Today I sat down with leading clinicians, researchers and cancer charities to have a frank conversation about prostate cancer screening.
‘I’m grateful for the valuable perspectives shared, which will inform my thinking as I await the independent UK National Screening Committee’s final recommendation.
‘I know how important it is to get this right – balancing the potential harms of screening and treatment with the chance to detect cancers earlier.
‘I want to see screening in place for prostate cancer, but any decision must be guided by the evidence.
‘I’m determined to improve outcomes for men with prostate cancer.
‘We’re expanding access to life-extending treatments, cutting waiting times, and ensuring that black men – who face twice the risk of dying from prostate cancer – are at the heart of our research efforts.’
Former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, comedian Stephen Fry and football world cup winner Geoff Hurst have all called for a national prostate cancer screening programme.
Experts are expecting data within two years from a large trial launched by Prostate Cancer UK into whether combining PSA with other tests, such as rapid MRI scans, could lead to a recommendation for population-wide screening.
Chiara De Biase, from the charity Prostate Cancer UK, said: ‘It’s heartening to see the Government taking this issue so seriously and engaging with Prostate Cancer UK and other stakeholders to address the challenges in screening, whilst carefully considering the research and evidence that can shift the dial and save men’s lives.
‘Our team of experts have reviewed the UK National Screening Committee’s recommendation, and we’re submitting our response to the Government’s consultation to ensure the final decision gets the balance of benefits and potential harms for men right, especially for those at highest risk.’
