by Wes Streeting is facing calls from more than 100 MPs to introduce screening for prostate cancer.
The Health Secretary will receive recommendations from Britain’s National Screening Committee later this week on whether screening should be offered to men at higher risk of the disease.
The final decision rests with Mr Streeting, who has been urged to show “leadership” and introduce targeted screenings, even if the committee is cautious.
Rishi Sunak, the former prime minister, leads a cross-party coalition of 125 MPs and says “the government must be ready to act” so that the most vulnerable men are “no longer left behind”.
Mr Sunak met Mr Streeting on Monday evening to forward an open letter from MPs urging him to introduce such testing, saying it would be a “legacy-defining step forward for men’s health”.
The letter says there is “compelling” evidence to support testing in high-risk groups and warns against accepting “outdated” arguments that do not take enough account of advances in diagnostics that reduce the risk of unnecessary harm.
The letter highlights the thousands of lives that could be saved through screening and urges the government to introduce screening for those most at risk – namely black men, men with a family history of prostate, breast or ovarian cancer and those who carry the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes.
It warns: “Our current opportunistic PSA [prostate-specific antigen] The testing system is unstructured, inefficient and unfair – a postcode lottery in which some men succeed because they know they have to ask or can pay privately, while others are turned away despite repeated requests.
“Yet the data hides what cannot be modeled: weakened trust among communities that feel abandoned. Black men, who are already at higher risk, often believe the system is failing them. Families bear devastating emotional and financial burdens from late-stage illness – costs that are not accounted for in formal models but are among the most compelling reasons for action,” the lawmakers wrote.
They continue to argue for not allowing men to continue to die, saying: “We now have the tools to screen safely and effectively, but the system is frozen, waiting for next-generation trial data.”
“Waiting would worsen inequality and enable preventable deaths. The evidence is strong enough to act now. Perfection cannot be the enemy of progress.”
Helen Morgan, the Liberal Democrats’ health spokeswoman, Rishi Sunak, the former prime minister, and Calvin Bailey, chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Prostate Cancer, with Mr Streeting
The Telegraph is campaigning for the introduction of targeted screening so that the most vulnerable men – such as black men, those with a family history of prostate cancer or certain genes linked to it – are offered tests.
The screening committee, chaired by Prof Sir Mike Richards, will hold discussions on Thursday where the group may advocate some form of testing or further evaluation of such methods.
The committee has previously rejected calls to screen for harm caused by tests, biopsies and treatments that could safely have been avoided.
Mr Streeting said he would carefully consider the recommendations, expected later this week, and said he was “determined to bring about real change”.
Currently, men without prostate cancer symptoms can request a PSA test from their GP, but GPs cannot proactively offer this.
As a result, take-up is far higher in wealthier areas, while deaths are highest in deprived parts of the country.
Official figures show a widening gap between rich and poor areas, while black men are twice as likely to develop prostate cancer and die from the disease.
Sir James Cleverly, Sir Gavin Williamson and Dame Caroline Dinenage are among former Tory cabinet ministers backing calls for targeted screening. Labor supporters include Calvin Bailey, chairman of the All-Party Prostate Cancer Group, former health secretary Andrew Gwynne and former shadow chancellor Rt Hon John McDonnell.
Mr Bailey said: “This is a crucial moment. We are seeing increasing inequality, with men at increased risk being turned away despite having requested tests, only to be diagnosed when it is too late.”
“Families are enduring the emotional and financial devastation of a disease we can fight. We are presenting this letter to the Health Secretary calling for change. The evidence is there, the political support is there – we just need recognition from the National Screening Committee.”
Mr Sunak added: “The evidence is now clear. Modern diagnoses are safer, more accurate and have eliminated the harm that once justified inaction. With thousands of men each year still being diagnosed late when their cancer is no longer curable, we cannot continue with a system based on chance. A targeted screening program for men at high risk is practical, affordable and urgently needed. We must seize this opportunity to save lives and make a generational difference in men’s health.”
The 59-year-old colleague of former prime minister Lord Cameron has also backed calls for the government to introduce screening after revealing he had successfully undergone treatment for prostate cancer.
Lord Cameron said his wife persuaded him to have a health check after hearing Soho House boss Nick Jones on the radio describing his experiences with prostate cancer.
He told The Times: “I know it’s not a slam dunk. There are respectable arguments against a screening program. You always have to think about how many cases we detect, how many misdiagnoses there are and how many people are treated unnecessarily. But it seems to me that quite a lot has changed in the last few years.”
Oliver Kemp, chief executive of the charity Prostate Cancer Research, said: “It’s time to stop hiding behind outdated arguments. We know that pre-biopsy MRIs have halved over-diagnosis rates and over-treatment rates have fallen massively over the last decade.”
“Other nations are pushing forward with risk-adapted testing. If the UK hesitates again, we are choosing to fall behind and let another generation of men down. Our campaign calls on the public to join us in demanding a program that we know is practical, affordable and morally essential.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “This government has made it clear that it would like to screen, but the decision must be evidence-based. The UK’s independent National Screening Committee sees this as a priority and we will consider next steps following thorough consultation.”
