TL;DR
- The National Screening Committee advises against mandatory prostate cancer screening for men over 45, citing potential harm outweighs benefits.
- Instead, draft recommendations will focus on screenings for individuals with BRCA-1 and BRCA-2 genetic mutations linked to heightened cancer risk.
- Prostate cancer remains a significant concern, affecting mostly men over 50, especially those of black African or Caribbean ancestry, with 12,000 fatalities annually.
National prostate cancer screening not expected to be recommended on NHS | UK News
Mandatory screening for prostate cancer will not be recommended for use on the NHS, Sky News understands.
The National Screening Committee (NSC), comprised of doctors and economists, has told the government the screening is “likely to cause more harm than good”.
The decision means the NHS is unlikely to offer mandatory screening for men over the age of 45.
Draft recommendations expected to be published today will instead propose checks for individuals with specific genetic mutations – known as BRCA-1 and BRCA-2.
Those genes can increase the risk of certain cancers.
When the committee last looked at the evidence in 2020, it rejected calls for screening, even though prostate cancer kills 12,000 men a year.
According to the NHS, prostate cancer is most common in men over the age of 50 from a black African or Caribbean background.
Its severity is determined by whether it spreads to other parts of the body.
It does not usually have any signs or symptoms at first, but later signs can include back, hip or pelvis pain, or difficulty maintaining an erection.
Problems urinating can also be a sign of other prostate problems.
Treatments for prostate cancer include surgery, radiotherapy and hormone therapy.
However, the NHS says it does not always require treatment.