Prostate overtakes breast as UK’s most diagnosed cancer
Detection rate soars as Mail campaign pays off
PROSTATE cancer has become the most commonly diagnosed form of cancer following a huge effort to raise awareness of the deadly condition.
Official figures published last night show new diagnoses have shot up by 19 per cent in only a year. It has now overtaken breast cancer as the most commonly detected form of the disease.
A total of 49,029 men were diagnosed with the disease in England in 2018, a huge rise from the 41,201 of the previous year. Health officials say this is mostly down to a surge in men getting tested – although the growing and ageing population has played a role.
Despite early diagnosis dramatically raising survival chances, men have been slow to report symptoms – either through embarrassment or fear.
Experts say the turnaround is partly down to the Mail, which has highlighted the issue for two decades and in February 2018 relaunched its awareness campaign.
Stephen Powis, NHS national medical director, said: ‘ Speaking out about prostate cancer will urge men to seek help if they think something isn’t right and the Daily Mail should be applauded for their potentially life-saving campaign.’
Actor Stephen Fry went public with his prostate cancer diagnosis in February 2018 and broadcaster Bill Turnbull followed suit in March. Musician Rod Stewart also announced he was having treatment.
By October 2018 the number of men treated for urological cancer had risen by more than a third and visits to the NHS’s advice page for prostate cancer had soared 250 per cent.
NHS England had to increase funding for treatment by £10million to help cope with the increased demand. Paul Mitcheson of the health charity Movember said: ‘High-profile media coverage such as the Daily Mail’s campaign to reduce the numbers of men needlessly dying from prostate cancer – along with the work of charities and awareness driven by wellknown public figures talking about their own experiences – is encouraging more men to come forward to be tested.’
Only 47 per cent of cases are diagnosed before the cancer has spread outside the prostate – the stage at which it is easiest to treat. The Government’s target is 75 per cent.
Men diagnosed with stage four – metastatic – cancer have just a 22 per cent chance of surviving ten years. The figure soars to 98 per cent if they are diagnosed at stage one.
Breast cancer rates also increased in 2018, but only by 4 per cent – from 46,123 to 47,809 cases. Overall there were 316,680 new cases of cancer diagnosed in 2018 in England – 868 a day.
While the increase in prostate cancer diagnoses is cause for celebration, deaths from the disease continue to grow.
Two weeks ago figures for 2017 showed the number of deaths caused by prostate cancer rose above 12,000 in a single year for the first time. In the same year breast cancer deaths fell.
Experts say that only a national screening programme can deliver the improvements needed. While screening for breast cancer is routine – with middle-aged women invited for scans every three years – tests for prostate cancer are notoriously inaccurate.
Instead men are left to request a ‘PSA’ blood test from their doctor – which they are eligible for over the age of 50.
But even if this raises red flags it requires a follow-up with a biopsy, an intervention which itself has accuracy problems.
Heather Blake of Prostate Cancer UK said: ‘The dramatic increase in diagnoses between 2017 and 2018 is likely a reflection of the surge in referrals.
‘These numbers again reinforce the need to find methods for diagnosing prostate cancer which provide men with more clarity about the aggressiveness of their disease.’
IT seems strangely perverse to regard a sharp rise in the diagnosis of a potentially fatal illness as anything other than very bad news indeed.
In the case of prostate cancer however – the hidden killer which has lurked for so long below the NHS radar – it’s a cause for celebration.
The Daily Mail has campaigned for more than 20 years to raise awareness of this ‘forgotten disease’ and bring an end to the thousands of needless deaths it causes. Finally, it appears that message may be getting through.
Prostate cancer diagnoses have risen by a fifth in a single year, which health officials ascribe to a surge in the number of men coming forward to be tested.
Partly as a result of our campaign, and the public frankness of celebrity sufferers such as Stephen Fry, Bill Turnbull and Rod Stewart, the embarrassment surrounding the disease is slowly breaking down.
For far too long men have been reluctant to submit themselves to intimate prostate examinations – and perhaps too scared of the possible consequences of treatment if they are found to have the cancer.
But in 2018, the tide began to turn. The number of men treated that year rose by a third and there was a 250 per cent increase in those seeking advice.
Today’s figures are a direct result of that change in attitude.
Professor Stephen Powis, national medical director of the NHS paid gracious tribute to our part in this transformation.
He said: ‘Speaking out about prostate cancer will urge men to seek help if they think something isn’t right. The Daily Mail should be applauded for their potentially life-saving campaign.’
But there is still a long way to go. Despite the advances, prostate cancer killed 12,000 men last year. That is a shaming total. The main PSA blood test remains notoriously unreliable. There’s no national screening programme, and vital MRI scans are not automatic. The NHS has made great improvements to breast cancer survival rates thanks to increased resources, widespread screening and early diagnosis. Prostate cancer deserves the same priority.