The UK National Screening Committee recommends:
no screening programme for all men as it is “likely to cause more harm than good”
no screening for black men due to “uncertainties” around the impact due to a lack of clinical trials in black men
no screening based on family history
but screening should be offered every two years for men between the ages of 45 and 61 if they have specific genetic mutations – called BRCA variants.
These were not touch-and-go opinions as there was a “strong consensus” on each of these recommendations, the committee said.
BRCA variants increase the risk of certain cancers and, famously, led the actress Angelina Jolie to have her breasts removed.
Around three in 1,000 men have BRCA variants, but many will be unaware unless they have family members that are known carriers.
The National Screening Committee was asked to explain why they had not recommended that more men be tested for the disease.
Prof Freddie Hamdy, who is also a urological surgeon in Oxford, told me: “The diagnosis of prostate cancer in a healthy man is a hugely disruptive event – with potential to affect quality of life, very significantly, for many years.
“It cannot be done lightly, men need to be really well counselled and informed before the ‘snowball’ starts.
“Before you know it, you are on the operating table having your prostate removed – and we see examples of that all the time,” Prof Hamdy said.