A prominent surgeon has issued a stark warning that Britain languishes near the bottom of European league tables for prostate cancer mortality and will remain there without implementing a nationwide screening initiative.
Professor Chris Booth, Medical Director of the men's health charity Chaps, presented fresh evidence at the 2nd National Conference on Prostate Cancer Screening in London, demonstrating that earlier detection dramatically improves patient outcomes.
"Right now, the UK is in the relegation zone of the European mortality league, to put it in footballing terms," Prof Booth said.
"We're down at 23 out of 31, but until we get a screening programme, we haven't got a cat in hell's chance of promotion."
His research shows a programme modelled on existing breast and bowel cancer screening would rescue lives by identifying the disease whilst it remains highly treatable.
The charity's screening initiative, conducted from 2022 to 2025, examined 12,857 men between the ages of 40 and 80 using the Prostate Specific Antigen blood test as an initial measure.
The programme uncovered 183 cases of prostate cancer amongst participants, representing roughly one diagnosis each week of men who would likely have gone undetected otherwise.
Of those identified with the disease, four-fifths required aggressive treatment.
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Prof Booth noted the majority of participants showed no symptoms whatsoever, meaning they would not have pursued medical investigation without the screening opportunity.
"Most of the men who took part in our trial were asymptomatic, so without a screening programme like this they would not have known they had an abnormal result requiring further investigation or gained the peace of mind that their results were normal," he said.
Britain diagnoses approximately 63,000 new prostate cancer cases annually, leading to 13,000 fatalities each year.
Nearly half of all cases are identified at advanced stages three or four, contributing to the nation's elevated death rate.
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Prof Booth challenged the case against implementing a screening programme by highlighting that preventing a single cancer death requires PSA testing of 293 men.
By comparison, breast cancer screening must examine 337 women aged 60-69, or 1,339 women aged 50-59, to achieve equivalent results.
"There is, rightly, a national screening programme for breast cancer. The question is why we do not have the same for prostate cancer," he said.
The NHS aims to diagnose three-quarters of cancers at stages one or two by 2028, a target Prof Booth described as unattainable without establishing a screening programme.
The campaign has secured political support from Shadow Communities Secretary Sir James Cleverly, who has personally undergone PSA testing after recognising his elevated risk factors.
Addressing the conference, Sir James emphasised that timely intervention not only prevents deaths but transforms patients' quality of life, prompting his advocacy for substantially expanded screening provision.
"We know that early treatment not only saves lives but can completely change how men live their lives. That's why I've called for a major expansion of screening," he said.
He described a more focused screening approach targeting men with family history, appropriate age ranges, and higher-risk ethnic groups as an "absolute no-brainer".
Sir James revealed earlier this week his intention to pursue inclusion of a nationwide prostate cancer screening programme in the Conservative Party's forthcoming general election manifesto.
"Every year of delay costs lives," he said.
For more information about Chaps visit their website here.