Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are taking steps to use artificial intelligence in prostate cancer testing for more accurate diagnosis, and what assessment they have made of the case for establishing a national screening service for prostate cancer.

The Department is testing artificial intelligence (AI) in the areas that cause the most harm to health and to our economy, including prostate cancer. Through the £113 million AI in Health and Care Award, 86 technologies have been supported, including three projects specifically focused on prostate cancer. One of these is the Paige prostate cancer detection tool, developed by the University of Oxford.

To help provide timely personalised treatment plans, only those patients most at risk of prostate cancer undergo an invasive biopsy, and NHS England has implemented a best-practice timed pathway for prostate cancer, which begins with a multi-parametric magnetic resonance imaging scan.

In summer 2024, NHS England conducted a baseline assessment of AI auto-contouring systems, which showed that 39 National Health Service trusts had implemented some form of AI for radiotherapy treatment planning. The Department is aware of very early-stage trials into AI prostate cancer detection, and we look forward to seeing the results. For national screening programmes, the Government follows the advice of the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC). The UK NSC currently does not recommend screening for prostate cancer as the current best test is not accurate enough for use in asymptomatic men.