Prostate Cancer UK have issued the government with a plan to deliver on a manifesto pledge to save lives through earlier diagnoses and to root out racial and regional health inequalities.

They believe it can be done in just a year and their solution is largely to change outdated NHS guidelines so that GPs can proactively speak to men who are most at risk of getting prostate cancer.

They could then tell them about the higher risk and give them the choice of a free PSA blood test and it has been backed by a top Scottish expert on the disease.

Jaimin Bhatt is the Consultant Urological Surgeon at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow. Along with other leading prostate cancer clinicians, they have published the latest ‘PSA Consensus’, which is a paper in the British Journal of General Practice that supports changes that would see healthcare professionals initiating these potentially life-saving conversations with the men at highest risk.

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Members of the public have also been calling for change and during the recent General Election, Prostate Cancer UK supporters from across the UK emailed almost 3,000 prospective parliamentary candidates and asking them to push for the NHS guidelines to be reformed if they were elected to parliament.

Prostate cancer often has no symptoms in its earlier stage when the illness is more treatable and it’s crucial that men know about their risk of getting the disease and think about the option of getting a PSA blood test, even if they feel healthy and have no issues.

In the current system, the men who are most likely to get prostate cancer – including black men and men with a family history of the disease – aren’t told about their higher risk by GPs. Right now, it’s up to each individual man to find out their risk and ask for a test themselves.

In Scotland, more than one in three men are diagnosed with the disease at Stage 4 while only 53% of men get a diagnosis early, which falls significantly short of the NHS’s target of 75%.

Prostate Cancer UK estimates that updating the NHS guidance and implementing plans for raising awareness could be delivered in just a year.

Jaimin Bhatt said: “As a urologist with a specialist interest in prostate cancer, I am aware of the issues facing delayed diagnosis for men at higher risk of prostate cancer, such as ethnicity or family history. 

“There is also quite a wide variation in men's awareness about being able to access the PSA test via their GP after the age of 50 years for all men, or indeed from 45 years onwards for higher risk categories, possibly based on socio-economic demographic reasons.

“That’s why I’m proud to be part of this group that has brought together some of the top minds in UK urology and prostate cancer care to look again at how the PSA blood test should be used. After reviewing the best evidence available, we agreed that the PSA blood test is safe and accurate, and that GPs should proactively give the most at-risk men the choice of whether to have one. We are now in an era where we know that harm from diagnostic or treatment interventions is significantly reduced, with better supporting tests and treatment strategies.

“I fully support Prostate Cancer UK's call on the Government to adapt NHS guidelines in line with the known risks. It's a clear and obvious approach that will give more men in every part of the UK a fair chance of an earlier diagnosis. This is particularly important in Scotland, where we know that prostate cancer diagnosis was badly hit by the pandemic, and where too many men continue to be diagnosed when the disease has already spread and become harder to treat.”

Amy Rylance, Assistant Director of Health Improvement at Prostate Cancer UK, said: “It’s been clear for some time that NHS guidelines which prevent GPs from raising the subject of prostate cancer are dangerously outdated, and deeply unfair to the men who face double the risk of getting the disease. Leaving men in the dark about their risk means too many men are getting diagnosed with incurable prostate cancer, and this disproportionately affects Black men and men living in deprived areas. 

“Now, the UK’s leading urologists, clinicians, and researchers are joining our call to change these rules and finally enable healthcare professionals to initiate life-saving conversations with the men at highest risk and give them a choice to have a simple, free PSA blood test.

“Prostate Cancer UK welcomes the new Government’s promises to increase earlier cancer diagnoses and to address gross health inequalities. Our message to the Government and MPs in the Commons is that we’re here to help you deliver those promises. Updating NHS prostate cancer guidelines could drive forward significant progress in just a year and, crucially, would give men a fairer chance of living longer.”