Rishi Sunak calls for national prostate cancer screening
Prostate cancer screening must be rolled out nationally, Rishi Sunak has urged.
In his first major intervention since standing down as prime minister, Mr Sunak calls for targeted screening, so those with higher risk of the disease such as those with a family history of it undergo checks.
The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) is currently considering whether to roll out screening.
Experts believe there is a growing case for targeted screening, meaning that PSA blood tests would be offered to those at heightened risk of the disease.
Writing for The Telegraph, Mr Sunak urges the UK NSC to make the leap – and to do so 'without delay'.
In the meantime, he urges all men to use Father's Day this Sunday as an opportunity to talk to their fathers about their health.
The MP, who recently became an ambassador for charity Prostate Cancer Research, writes: 'On Father's Day, many of us will call our dads for a chat. We'll discuss many things: the news, sport, the family. But few of us will touch on our health.
'For we men aren't very good at addressing that: I am the son of a GP but even me and my dad don't talk enough about health. In fact he's had a test, but it took him a while to get round to it. It's not that the topic is taboo, more that it never seems quite the right moment to ask a delicate question.
'But talking about health with your dad, and particularly the misconceptions around prostate cancer, could save their life. It is one of the best things you could do this Father's Day, and a true act of love'.
Although one in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetimes, polling has found only 7 per cent of men know that the disease is symptomless in its early stages.
Mr Sunak warns too many men were leaving it 'dangerously late' to seek help, only coming forward when symptoms such as pain or blood in urine began to show.
He says: 'The cancer will almost certainly be advanced at this point, and treatment far less certain to succeed. This ignorance is costing lives. It is why we need a targeted national screening programme to make sure that the right men are being checked at the right time for the disease. If we can make this happen, we can save thousands of lives.'
Mr Sunak adds that since becoming an ambassador for the charity: 'What has really struck me in this time is how alien it is for men to proactively ask to be checked for a disease. Our assumption is that if everything is working fine, it is fine.
'When I raise prostate cancer and the need to get checked, men regularly tell me that everything is functioning down there, so they don't need a test. But that is not right: and this confusion is costing lives.'
The UK NSC is expected to make a decision by the end of this year.
Its members are considering different models, with discussions about the definition of close relatives if a family history becomes part of the criteria for targeted screening.
As well as family history, risk factors also include ethnic group – with one in four black men diagnosed with the disease.
Many experts in prostate cancer are calling for the 'dangerous' guidelines to be changed, so that younger men with a family history of prostate cancer such as Sir Chris Hoy can be tested for the disease.
The 49-year-old, who is a six-time Olympic cycling gold medallist, was told he has two to four years to live after being diagnosed with terminal cancer that originated in his prostate.
Despite a family history of prostate cancer – which affected both his father and grandfather – he was never offered PSA tests.
In the UK prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men, with over 55,000 new cases diagnosed annually. Cases have risen by one quarter in the last five years.
Despite improvements in survival, over 12,000 men die from prostate cancer each year.
If prostate cancer is caught early, the chances of successful treatment are far higher. If it is detected after the disease has spread, the success rate of treatment is below 50 per cent.
Mr Sunak salutes the work of men who have spoken out about the need to get checked, saying his friend Joe Biden's diagnosis would also raise awareness.
Credit: US Network Pool via Reuters
Oliver Kemp, chief executive of Prostate Cancer Research, said the rollout of targeted screening would prevent 300 men a year from developing incurable disease.
He said: 'Every 40 minutes in the UK, a family loses a father, a grandfather, or a son to prostate cancer. This is a tragedy compounded by a postcode lottery that means a man's chances of survival can depend on where he lives.
'The current passive system, where men must know their own risk and ask for a test, is failing us and worsening health inequality across the UK. That is why Prostate Cancer Research is calling for the urgent introduction of a targeted national screening programme for men at the highest risk, including black men and those with a family history of the disease'.
Polling has found 94 per cent of GPs would back the rollout.
Mr Kemp said: 'As the UK National Screening Committee finalises its review, we call on the Government to champion this life-saving reform, which aligns perfectly with their stated mission to prioritise prevention and tackle health disparities. The time for waiting is over; the lives of thousands of men depend on this decision.'
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