Prostate Cancer: Screening
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which body within the NHS will be conducting the review into the case for lowering the screening age for prostate cancer; what the scope of this review will be; and when he expects to receive recommendations.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
Screening for prostate cancer is currently not recommended in the United Kingdom, due to the inaccuracy of the current best test Prostate Specific Antigen.
A UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) review looking at whether to offer screening for prostate cancer is currently underway. This evidence review will cover modelling the clinical effectiveness and cost of several approaches to prostate cancer screening. This will include different potential ways of screening the whole population 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.
Once the modelling and evidence review are complete, it will be considered by the UK NSC. Subject to no further revisions being required, the UK NSC plans to look at the findings towards the end of 2025.
Further details of the UK NSC’s evidence review process are available at the following link:
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