A leading prostate cancer expert has described the decision to withdraw the right for men over 50 to request a blood test commonly used to look for signs of prostate cancer would “cost lives.”
Prof Chris Booth, retired urologist and founder of the men’s health charity CHAPS, said the decision was “a step backwards for the UK” and warned it would “further discourage GPs from providing PSA blood tests to men who go to their GPs with symptoms.”
Prof Booth, who spent 25 years in the NHS specialising in urology and prostate cancer said the “surreptitious removal of the guidance to family doctors was yet another blow after the flawed decision to oppose a national screening programme.”
The new rules mean men aged over 50 will no longer be entitled to a blood test to help identify the disease, with GPs instead deciding who is given one.
A DHSC letter sent last week told doctors that ‘the prostate cancer risk management programme guidance has been withdrawn’.
“Previously men had the ability to make an informed choice about whether to have a PSA test,” said Prof Booth.
“The rules clearly stated that the test was available free to any man aged 50 or above who requests it.
“And since prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the UK, with sadly over 12,000 deaths each year, we should be expanding that with a national programme, not limiting men’s ability to take action over their health,” he warned.
“Obtaining a PSA test for the early diagnosis of prostate cancer is already a postcode lottery with many GPs declining legitimate requests or advising men to come back when symptoms arise, usually too late for diagnosis at a curable stage.”
The UK currently ranks 23rd out of 31 European countries on prostate cancer mortality rates, behind comparable countries like France and Germany.
“The UK already has worse prostate cancer mortality compared with our western neighbours, due almost entirely to late diagnosis,” Prof Booth added.
“Following on from the UK National Screening Committee’s deeply flawed recommendations and their hasty acceptance by a new Secretary of State, this latest manoeuvre by the DHSC will do nothing to improve the service and will almost certainly cost lives.”
About 1 in 8 men in the UK will be diagnosed in their lifetime but Prof Booth says that early detection is the best way to increase survival rates.
“Despite no national screening programme, there are ways we can help to reduce prostate cancer deaths through education and early detection as we continue to fight for a change in national policy.
“And I would still advise any man, if he is concerned, to make an appointment with his GP.
“Prostate cancer is serious but if caught early enough, it is curable and you can go on to lead a normal, healthy life afterwards.
“But I believe we must still push for a national screening programme if we want to save lives because by the time symptoms appear, prostate cancer will already be advanced and incurable.
“This is because prostate cancer usually grows slowly and causes no symptoms till it has spread. That is why screening needs to be done before symptoms arise whilst the cancer is still inside the prostate and curable.”
The National Screening Committee has instead recommended screening only for men carrying BRCA gene variants, a group estimated at three in every 1,000 men. Everyone else remains outside any organised programme.