Prostate test could save 2,000 lives every year

Routine prostate cancer screening should be reconsidered in Britain in the light of new evidence showing that it saves lives, a charity said today.

A major European study found that death rates from the disease could be reduced by about 20per cent by national screening. If deaths from prostate cancer in the UK were cut by a fifth about 2,000 lives would be saved each year.

The Prostate Cancer Charity said the policy not to fund NHS prostate cancer screening should now be revisited.

Chief executive John Neate said: "We are calling for the UK National Screening Committee to conduct a rapid review of this new evidence and its implications for current practice in the UK and to publish its findings."

The argument against prostate cancer screening based on the prostate specific antigen blood marker is that it is unreliable and can lead to men being wrongly diagnosed and treated. PSA may be raised in men without cancer, or appear relatively normal in men with the disease.

Many prostate cancers are also slow growing and not likely to pose a threat in a man's remaining lifetime. Diagnosing these cancers can lead to unnecessary worry and excessive treatment.

The results of the European Randomised Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer were published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.