Britain is to ration prostate cancer screening tightly, despite lagging behind much of Europe on survival rates. Charities accused health officials of “condemning thousands to preventable deaths”, while Lord Cameron, the former prime minister, called the rationing “a real step backwards”. The UK performs worse than many European countries on prostate cancer survival, ranking 17th of 28 countries in one league table. Almost every country in Europe is now planning or piloting some form of prostate cancer screening. But on Thursday, the UK National Screening Committee (NSC) – which advises ministers – ruled that the vast majority of men should be denied screening. Only men with a cancer-causing form of the BRCA2 gene and a family history of breast, ovarian, pancreatic or prostate cancer should be eligible, the guidance states. The committee was unable to say how many men might qualify, with Prof Sir Mike Richards, the chairman, suggesting it might amount to “a few thousand”. The committee claims limiting screening to a subgroup of men with just one gene variant is the only way to be sure the programme will “do more good than harm”. Campaigners have been calling for the rollout of targeted screening, in particular for black men and those with a family history of the disease.

Lord Cameron, who revealed last year that he had been treated for prostate cancer, urged the Health Secretary to reject the plan and roll out wider screening. Lord Cameron, 59, said the recommendation was “a real step backwards”. He said: “We are letting down too many men, their families and loved ones if we don’t push for a wider screening programme that includes all high-risk groups.” “Prostate cancer can be symptomless early on – as it was in my case. That’s why screening is essential – catching the cancers early when they can be more effectively and successfully treated, like with me.” Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK, with about 63,000 diagnoses and 12,000 deaths annually. However, it remains the only major cancer without a national screening programme. Research has suggested screening could prevent approximately 1,500 deaths a year. Prostate Cancer Research accused the committee of “condemning thousands to preventable deaths”, saying the recommendation would entrench health inequalities for a generation.

Oliver Kemp, the charity’s chief executive, said: “This is a deeply disappointing moment for men at highest risk of prostate cancer. The committee’s commitment to keep its model under review is important – but what matters now is how quickly that happens. “Prostate cancer has not stood still. Advances in diagnostics and new long-term evidence are changing our understanding of screening, and the model underpinning the UK NSC’s recommendations must urgently reflect that reality. Men at highest risk cannot afford years of delay.” In 2024, Sir Chris Hoy, the six-time Olympic cycling gold medallist, announced that he was terminally ill with prostate cancer at the age of 47. Despite a family history of the disease, which affected his father and grandfather, Sir Chris was never offered a test that could have detected it. Under the committee’s recommendation, those with such a family history will not be eligible for screening. The Telegraph is calling for the introduction of targeted screening so that men at the greatest risk – including black men, those with BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene variants, and those with a family history of the cancer – are offered tests. The campaign has been backed by charities and medical experts, as well as well-known survivors of prostate cancer, including Sir Stephen Fry, the actor and broadcaster, Kenny Logan, the former Scotland rugby player, and Dermot Murnaghan, the TV presenter, who is being treated for the disease.

Draft proposals published in November suggested screening only men aged 45 to 61 with BRCA1 or BRCA2 variants. The proposals prompted immediate criticism from charities, campaigners and MPs, who called for a wider rollout. In March, The Telegraph revealed that the committee was considering limiting its recommendations further, so that only men with the BRCA2 variant would be eligible. On Thursday, the committee narrowed eligibility even further, recommending screening only for men with a pathogenic BRCA2 variant who also have a family history of breast, ovarian, pancreatic or prostate cancer. Prof Sir Mike told a briefing: “We absolutely recognise the strong support for prostate cancer screening amongst a large number of people, but also the very real harm that can be caused by the disease, which patients, and indeed their families, experience.” He said offering tests to a subgroup of men with BRCA2 was “the only strategy where the UK National Screening Committee had confidence that screening would do more good than harm”. Screening involves a blood test called a PSA test. Men with high readings can undergo a biopsy. This can have side effects such as sexual dysfunction, pain and bleeding. Most men with a high PSA result do not have cancer. Currently, men without symptoms can request a PSA test from their GP, but family doctors cannot proactively offer one. As a result, the uptake of PSA testing is higher in affluent areas, while deaths from the disease are concentrated in deprived parts of the country.

The committee said newer evidence suggested the increased risk of having prostate cancer was concentrated among men with BRCA2 variants rather than BRCA1. Black men are twice as likely to develop prostate cancer and to die of it, with one in four black men being diagnosed with the disease over a lifetime. But the NSC said there was a lack of data about the aggressiveness of prostate cancer in black men. A family history of prostate cancer is known to increase risk. But the committee found that one in three men had a relative with the disease, with research unable to establish the level of additional risk. It added that it was “hopeful that new evidence, new tests and a better understanding of prostate cancer will support much wider screening in future”. The recommendations will go to James Murray, the new Health Secretary, with discussions due on Monday. Wes Streeting, Mr Murray’s predecessor, had said he would seek to “thrash out the evidence”, and had been keen to introduce screening if it were evidence-based. The decision will now fall to Mr Murray, who is thought unlikely to overrule his advisers. A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said Mr Murray would “give full and careful consideration to the recommendation” and would issue an update on the Government’s response shortly.

Chiara De Biase, health strategy director at Prostate Cancer UK, said the charity was “deeply disappointed”. She said: “Without a screening programme for the UK’s most common cancer, we lose more than 12,000 dads, brothers, and partners every single year. “We know that a mass screening programme could save thousands of men’s lives, and while we recognise the current evidence does not yet show that screening all men at risk would do more good than harm, today’s decision is a step backwards, narrowing the recommendation to a smaller pool of eligible men.”

Rishi Sunak, the former prime minister, is among 125 MPs who have urged the Government to introduce a wider rollout of screening.

He said: “For just 0.01 per cent of the NHS budget, we could have had a targeted screening programme that would have saved lives. The problem we have is that prostate cancer is too often caught too late, with devastating consequences for men and their families.

“Today, screening is more effective than it has ever been, but the model guiding the committee’s decision does not reflect these developments. Updating it is essential if we are serious about earlier diagnosis and preventing avoidable deaths.”

Resist Comment.  Guess why this treatment is being denied?  You guessed it - the price of supporting immigrants into this country.  There should be a tax on muslims already in this country to support the increasing numbers.