Prostate blood test ‘should be scrapped’

A BLOOD test on request for prostate cancer should be scrapped because it is harming men, according to experts.

Men over 50 can ask their GP for a blood test that looks for a protein made by the prostate gland called prostate-specific antigen (PSA), which may be higher in men with cancer.

But experts want this approach to be scrapped, as allowing men to request a PSA test risks them having unnecessary treatment such as prostate surgery, which can lead to lifelong incontinence and erectile dysfunction.

That risk is particularly high for men over 70 who are diagnosed with prostate cancer after requesting a PSA test, according to the British Medical

‘We see a surge in demand’

Journal article. Most of these men may actually have been better off remaining undiagnosed and untreated. They are often old enough to live out their years with the cancer as any tumours would never grow large enough to cause illness.

Instead experts suggest prostate cancer screening for healthy men aged 50 to 70 – similar to mammograms for healthy women which check their risk of breast cancer. Alternatively, PSA tests should no longer be available on request from a GP but only through a urologist, for men with urinary symptoms.

Professor James Catto, a coauthor of the article from the University of Sheffield, said: ‘We see a surge in demand from men... looking for PSA tests when celebrities like Bill Turnbull and Stephen Fry talk about prostate cancer... But those who die from prostate cancer are the men who are least likely to ask for a test, so this system isn’t working.’