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<\/p>\nA charity providing free prostate cancer tests has called for more NHS screening to reduce the number of men who go undiagnosed.<\/p>\n
The Torbay Prostate Support Association (TPSA) said men who had the cancer often showed no symptoms so it had offered Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) tests to men over 50.<\/p>\n
It said the test was not 100% accurate in detecting cancer but the group argued some indication was better than nothing.<\/p>\n
The Department of Health declined to comment on the call for wider testing, saying it was a matter for the UK National Screening Committee, which the BBC also contacted for comment. The NHS and Prostate Cancer UK recommend people speak to a GP to arrange a test.<\/p>\n
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Torbay Prostate Support Association chairman Ian Nightingale said too many cancer cases went undetected [BBC]<\/p>\n
The association recently held a session in Torquay where it provided 359 men with free antigen tests.<\/p>\n
It said the tests sometimes returned false positives and negatives but it believed screening should be widely available.<\/p>\n
Chairman Ian Nightingale said he was misdiagnosed with prostate cancer in 2013 but then diagnosed again in 2018 and had his prostate removed.<\/p>\n
“We noticed that lots of people [were] concerned about PSA and prostate, but they couldn’t get to hospital, they couldn’t get stuff from the GPs,” he said.<\/p>\n
“So we saw a need for guys who really are interested in owning their own health, so this was a gap in the market that we saw as a really important thing to do.”<\/p>\n
Figures from Prostate Cancer UK showed 6,331 men in the wider South West region – which covers Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Dorset, Bristol, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire – were diagnosed with prostate cancer every year.<\/p>\n
It said 1,280 men in the region died from prostate cancer every year.<\/p>\n
Current NHS guidance<\/a> says men should see their GP to arrange a test if they think they are at risk of prostate cancer.<\/p>\n The UK National Screening Committee is currently reconsidering its decision<\/a> from five years ago not to recommend routine screening.<\/p>\n Chiara De Biase, director of health services, equity and improvement at Prostate Cancer UK, said PSA tests were “not quite accurate enough” to offer more widely.<\/p>\n She said the charity was funding a \u00a342m trial to find the best way to screen men for prostate cancer.<\/p>\n “In just two years time the Transform Trial will give us the first bit of evidence that will feed straight back into the National Screening Committee,” she said.<\/p>\n She advised men over 50 should do the Prostate Cancer UK risk checker and consider the pros and cons of having a PSA test.<\/p>\n Follow BBC Devon on X<\/a>, Facebook<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>. Send your story ideas to spotlight@bbc.co.uk<\/a>.<\/p>\n More on this storyRelated internet links