This is Everyday Science with Clare Wilson, a subscriber-only newsletter from The i Paper. If you’d like to get this direct to your inbox, every single week, you can sign up here.
In the past few months, I have been lucky enough – or unlucky, depending on how you view it – to get letters from my GP inviting me to have a screening test for firstly cervical cancer and then breast cancer.
Olympic champion Sir Chris Hoy has been calling for this to change through a national screening programme, and for the age guide of 50 to be abolished.
This week, some headlines suggested Health Secretary Wes Streeting has also given his support to the campaign. Streeting appeared to choose his words carefully, in that he spoke supportively about the need for better ways to diagnose prostate cancer, while saying the decision was down to an expert panel called the National Screening Committee.
Prostate cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer, affecting about one in eight men. Its prognosis is highly variable, as most tumours are slow-growing. It is said that nearly all men would develop prostate cancer if they lived long enough – more men die “with” the condition, than “from” it.
As the blood test for PSA can shed light on the prostate gland’s health, there have long been calls for the NHS to set up a national screening programme to detect cancers early.
Sir Chris Hoy announced that his cancer was terminal in October last year (Photo: Visionhaus/Getty)
That’s worrying, because the treatments for prostate cancer, such as radiotherapy or surgery, often damage nerves, leading to impotence or incontinence. “That can be devastating,” said Professor Jenny Donovan, a professor of social medicine at the University of Bristol, who was involved in the largest-ever trial of prostate screening, published last year.
On the other hand, screening does find the slow-growing tumours that cause PSA levels to rise gradually over many years. But in many cases these probably wouldn’t have spread and gone on to kill, or even cause any symptoms.
Looking for cancers
But it is hard to explain why prostate screening can be harmful in the face of such emotional campaigns, said Professor Freddie Hamdy, a urologist at the University of Oxford, who was also involved in the large trial. He said the public assumes: “We must go out and find all these cancers.”
Various strategies have been proposed for making screening methods more accurate. One is to offer the PSA test to groups known to be at higher risk of prostate cancer, for instance black men, or people with a family history of prostate cancer.
He added, however, that men with relatives with prostate cancer should discuss their level of risk with their GP.
Yet while these results are promising, the study did not assess if a screening programme based on the genetic test would save lives, nor if it would overall do more good than harm.
For men who are weighing up what to do, Streeting’s latest statement doesn’t really clarify things. He told The Daily Mail this week that he hopes the UK’s National Screening Committee “can recommend a way forward that allows the NHS to seek out prostate cancer more proactively for those most at risk”.
Men should be aware, though, that even without a personal invitation for screening through their door, they can still ask their doctor for PSA test if they would like one, even if they are under 50. A GP can still order them the test at their discretion. And anyone with symptoms suggestive of prostate cancer, like frequent urination, is also advised to see their doctor.
I’ve also written…
A growing number of us are choosing drinks with artificial sweeteners, either for health reasons, or because the diet version is a little cheaper, thanks to the 2018 drinks “sugar tax”.
I’ve been watching…
While somehow overlooking the first two series, I’ve become addicted to the third series of The White Lotus, a funny and cynical drama set in a luxury Thai hotel, about the messy lives of the super-rich.
Speaking of holidays, this newsletter will pause for a week while I take one of my own. See you in a fortnight.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Sir Chris Hoy wants to extend prostate cancer testing. Some doctors don’t agree )
Also on site :