Routine screening for prostate cancer being ‘carefully considered’

UK Parliament

By Sarah Lowden

Routine screening for prostate cancer is being "looked at carefully", a health minister has said.

The government has indicated it may introduce it with developments in technology making diagnosis more effective.

Health minister Andrew Gwynne said current guidance does not include regular screening because the antigen test is not accurate enough. However, he told the Commons, more research has been sent to the National Institute of Health Research which may see the policy change.

He said: “Of course we know that the current guidance is that screening for prostate cancer is not recommended in the UK … and it could actually harm them [patients] as some of them would be diagnosed with a cancer that would not have caused them problems during their life.

“But this is something I am looking very carefully at...

“Obviously as technology and other mechanisms advance, this may well be an area where we can make in-roads, but I am happy to work with him on this to make sure that every opportunity is met.”