RCGP response to NSC’s prostate cancer screening decision

Professor Kamila Hawthorne, Chair of the Royal College of GPs, has responded to NSC’s decision not to recommend whole-population screening of men for prostate cancer.

Professor Kamila Hawthorne, Chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: “Cancer screening programmes have potentially saved millions of lives, but screening does not come without risk, including the potential for overdiagnosis and harm to patients as a result of investigations and treatment , so it’s vital that any screening programme is evidence based and reliable.

"As a College, we support evidence-based screening programmes that have been approved by the National Screening Committee, NICE or equivalent bodies in the devolved nations. Today's decision by the NSC not to recommend whole-population screening of men for prostate cancer reflects the lack of evidence that PSA blood testing is reliable enough to detect prostate cancer that needs treatment. We do note the recommendation to introduce screening for men aged 45-61 with BRCA 1 or 2 gene mutations, and whilst we recognise that a targeted approach would be most sensible, the key limitation is that we may not always know who these men are.

“We will be considering the Committee’s full recommendations in detail and feeding into the consultation in due course.

“GPs want the best for our patients – and we want to see better outcomes for men with prostate cancer. As such, we would certainly like to see research into more specific and sensitive tests to detect prostate cancer and to this end await the results of the Transform Trial, which is currently underway. What is vital is that any developments in screening are evidence-based in terms of the benefits it can have for patients.”

Further information

RCGP press office: 0203 188 7659
press@rcgp.org.uk

Notes to editors

The Royal College of General Practitioners is a network of more than 54,000 family doctors working to improve care for patients. We work to encourage and maintain the highest standards of general medical practice and act as the voice of GPs on education, training, research and clinical standards.