Death rates for prostate cancer could soar by 30%

DEATHS from prostate cancer will rise by a third in the next decade unless urgent action is taken, campaigners have warned.

Late diagnosis and poor treatment are contributing to high mortality rates, according to the charity Prostate Cancer UK.

The disease kills 10,900 men in Britain each year – but campaigners predict the ageing population means that, by 2026, this figure will rise to at least 14,500.

But if screening, prevention and treatment were sufficiently improved, the death rate could be halved.

The charity, which launched a tenyear plan last night, said ensuring timely diagnosis was the main issue.

While screening programmes for other cancers are well established, scientists are yet to introduce a reliable and accurate test for prostate cancer. Currently, men undergo a Prostate- Specific Antigen (PSA) blood test, which flags up raised levels of a specific protein.

But this can be inaccurate and always has to be confirmed with a painful biopsy operation. Prostate Cancer UK said a better test, which should be available for use by all GPs, is needed within five years.

Its director of research, Dr Iain Frame, called for a new diagnostic tool to be built into existing GP computer systems. ‘It will let them input information like a man’s age, ethnicity, family history and PSA level, and get back an indication of his individual risk,’ he said.

‘It will then give both the man and his doctor a clear idea of what they should do next – whether that’s go straight to a urologist, not to worry about another test for years, or something in between – a bit like a red/ amber/green traffic light system.’

Better drugs are also needed, the charity said, adding: ‘We need to make sure the effective treatments that are developed actually reach the men they are intended for, and are not withheld languishing on a shelf on the grounds of cost.’

Prostate Cancer UK’s chief executive Angela Culhane said it was ‘scandalous’ that ‘one in three men diagnosed with the disease currently dies from it, putting survival rates for our men behind most of Europe’.

A Department of Health spokesman said cancer survival rates are at a record high, adding: ‘We are continuing to increase awareness of symptoms, training more staff to do tests and have committed up to £300million a year by 2020 on increasing testing to improve early diagnosis.’

‘We are behind most of Europe’