Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is spearheading a significant cross-party initiative, uniting 125 MPs to demand the introduction of a targeted prostate cancer screening programme within the NHS.
A Cross-Party Call for Action
On Monday evening, Sunak personally handed an open letter to Health Secretary Wes Streeting, urging immediate government action. The letter, backed by more than 100 MPs, calls for tests to be made available to men at the highest risk, ensuring they are 'no longer left behind'.
This group includes Black men, those with a family history of prostate, breast, or ovarian cancer, and individuals carrying the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes.
The Case Against the 'Postcode Lottery'
The campaign highlights the deficiencies of the current system, describing the existing PSA (prostate-specific antigen) testing as an 'unstructured, inefficient and unfair' postcode lottery. The letter argues that the present model allows men who are aware of the risks or can afford private care to get tested, while others are repeatedly turned away.
This push for reform comes just a day after former Prime Minister David Cameron publicly disclosed his own recent prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment. Cameron, 59, shared his personal experience with the Times, describing the moment he heard the diagnosis as a profound shock.
Compelling Evidence and the Human Cost
The political movement is bolstered by recent medical research. A study published last month in the New England Journal of Medicine indicated that prostate cancer screening could reduce deaths from the disease by 13%. The research found that for every 456 men invited for screening, one death from prostate cancer was prevented.
The MPs' letter goes beyond clinical data, emphasising the eroded trust in communities that feel abandoned. It points out the devastating emotional and financial burdens borne by families dealing with late-stage cancer, costs that are absent from formal models but represent a compelling reason to act now.
The letter states: 'We now have the tools to deliver screening safely and effectively, yet the system is frozen waiting for next-generation trial data. Waiting would entrench inequality and allow preventable deaths. Evidence is strong enough to act now. Perfection must not be the enemy of progress.'
The UK National Screening Committee, the government agency that advises ministers and the NHS on all screening matters, is due to make its recommendation to the Health Secretary later this week on whether men at higher risk should be offered checks.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK, with approximately 55,000 new cases diagnosed every year. The absence of a national screening programme has historically been due to concerns over the accuracy of PSA tests.
