Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for his policies of rates of late diagnosis of prostate cancer; and what steps his Department is taking to tackle those rates.

No such assessment has been made. We recognise that late diagnosis of cancers, including prostate cancer, can impact treatment options, reduce a patient’s chances of survival, and potentially increase the cost of effective treatments. NHS England is taking steps to raise awareness of prostate cancer, where there are opportunities to do so. For example, NHS England partners with Cancer Alliances, charities, and local representatives to reach people through projects in the heart of their communities. On 8 January 2024, NHS England also relaunched the Help Us Help You campaign for cancer, designed to increase earlier diagnosis of cancer by reducing barriers to seeking earlier help, as well as increasing body vigilance and knowledge of key red flag symptoms.

Screening for prostate cancer is currently not recommended by the UK National Screening Committees. This is because of the inaccuracy of the current best test, the Prostate Specific Antigen. The UK National Screening Committee is currently undertaking an evidence review for prostate cancer screening, and plans to report within its three-year work plan. The evidence review includes modelling of several approaches to prostate cancer screening, which includes different potential ways of screening the whole population from 40 years of age onwards, and targeted screening aimed at groups of people identified as being at higher than average risk, such as black men or men with a family history of cancer.

In addition, we are working with Prostate Cancer UK to launch the TRANSFORM trial. The £42 million nationwide screening study will compare the most promising tests to look for prostate cancer in men that do not have any symptoms.