More than 100 MPs, including Rishi Sunak, have urged Health Secretary Wes Streeting to introduce prostate cancer screening, warning that the current system fails men at highest risk. The UK National Screening Committee is expected to write to Mr Streeting later this week with its recommendation on offering checks to higher-risk men.
Mr Sunak, leading a cross-party alliance of 125 MPs, met Mr Streeting on Monday evening to hand over an open letter. It calls for testing for Black men, those with a family history of prostate, breast or ovarian cancer, and carriers of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, who are "no longer left behind".
The letter describes the current opportunistic PSA testing as "unstructured, inefficient and unfair – a postcode lottery". It also warns of eroded trust, stating that Black men "often believe the system fails them". The MPs argue that the evidence is strong enough to act now, saying: "Perfection must not be the enemy of progress."
The intervention comes a day after David Cameron disclosed he had been treated for prostate cancer. The former prime minister, 59, told the Times about his diagnosis, including a high PSA score and an MRI with "black marks", and how he dreaded hearing the biopsy result.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in males in the UK, with about 55,000 new cases annually. There is no screening programme because of concerns over PSA test accuracy. However, a recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that screening could reduce deaths by 13%, with one death prevented for every 456 men invited.
