UK needs national prostate cancer screening strategy to end diagnosis 'postcode lottery', charity claims By Kate Pickles Health Editor Published: 01:01, 28 August 2024 | Updated: 01:05, 28 August 2024 e-mail View comments A UK-wide screening strategy is the only way to solve the 'postcode lottery' issues with prostate cancer diagnosis, a charity claims. It insists the current system, whereby men over 50 can request a prostate-specific antigen test, leads to many cases being caught too late. Prostate Research UK believes improvements to testing, including better scans and safer biopsies, mean the benefits now outweigh the risks, such as false positives and over-treatment.
It will hand into Downing Street today a petition, with more than 135,000 signatures, calling on the Government to implement a national screening scheme for the disease. Oliver Kemp, from the charity, stated that failure to make this available to all men is costing lives. Prostate Research UK believes improvements to testing, including better scans and safer biopsies, mean the benefits now outweigh the risks, such as false positives and over-treatment (stock photo) He said: 'Early detection is our most powerful weapon against prostate cancer, yet we're failing to implement effective screening across the UK.
'The current approach isn't just inefficient, it's unjust. We're calling on the UK National Screening Committee and the Government to take advantage of recent technological advancements to rectify this.' T.