Torbay’s MP Kevin Foster has welcomed today’s (Sunday 19th November 2023) announcement of a major new prostate cancer screening trial that could save thousands of men’s lives.
Backed by £42 million of funding from the Government and Prostate Cancer UK, the pilot will use innovative screening methods, such as MRI, to detect prostate cancer, with hundreds of thousands of men across the country participating. The trial is due to start in Spring 2024 with recruitment likely to begin in Autumn 2024.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK and currently has no screening programme. It usually has no symptoms until it has grown large and may be more difficult to treat. More than 52,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year in the UK on average, 144 men every day. Around 490,000 men are currently living with and after prostate cancer. Sadly 12,000 men die of it every year.
A way of effectively screening for prostate cancer could find these men before their cancer spreads and save lives. The trial has the potential to see new screening methods give more accurate results than the current blood tests, which can miss some cancers and often suggest prostate cancer when no cancer exists. Crucially, screening could also spot the disease even when no symptoms are displayed.
Men at higher risk of prostate cancer due to age and ethnicity will be recruited through their GP practice and invited to a screening visit. Participating men in the screening trial will be aged 50-75, with black men (Who have double the risk of other men of developing prostate cancer) eligible from the lower age range of 45-75.
To cover the total £42m cost of the pilot, £16 million will be invested by the Government for the trial through the National Institute of Health Research and Prostate Cancer UK, who have led the development of the trial, will provide £26m.
Kevin Foster MP for Torbay said:
“Too many lives are lost to Prostate Cancer in our bay every year, developing a screening programme could make a vital difference to saving lives. This funding will help to save the lives of thousands more men by through advanced screening methods which can catch prostate cancer as early as possible.
Laura Kerby, Chief Executive at Prostate Cancer UK, said:
“12,000 men die of prostate cancer each year and it’s the most common cancer that doesn’t have a national screening programme.
“It’s about time that changed. That’s why we’re launching our biggest and most ambitious trial ever. It will finally give us the answers we need to develop a routine testing system and save thousands of men each year.
“Prostate Cancer UK's unique focus and expertise made us the only organisation that could really deliver this paradigm-shifting trial, and we’re delighted that the Government has backed our vision to revolutionise diagnosis.”
In other measures announced for International Men’s Day, the Government will be recruiting for the UK’s first ever Men’s Health Ambassador and establishing the first Men’s Health Task and Finish Group. Membership will include behavioural scientists, men’s health campaigners, experts and academics. Together, they will help us identify how we can get more men to engage with their health, including a focus on better understanding male access to primary care services, such as GPs, and male uptake of the NHS Health Check.
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