Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the expected timeline for the TRANSFORM trial to produce actionable evidence to inform UK National Screening Committee policy on prostate cancer screening.

The Government and Prostate Cancer UK (PCUK) have announced the £42 million TRANSFORM screening trial to find the best way to screen men for prostate cancer to find it before it becomes advanced and harder to treat. PCUK is managing the award on behalf of the funders, with the Government contributing £16 million through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).

The UK National Screening Committee is working closely with the TRANSFORM trial team and will assess new evidence as it becomes available. This will ensure that prostate cancer policy is kept at the forefront of the Government’s cancer agenda. Although the TRANSFORM trial will run for over a decade, PCUK anticipate initial findings within the next three years.

The NIHR continues to encourage and welcome applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including prostate cancer.