The Conservative Party should commit to introducing a national prostate cancer screening programme in their election manifesto, Sir James Cleverly has said.
The Tory housing spokesman, whose dad was diagnosed with the disease before his death, stressed the ‘evidence is clear’ that routine checks will save lives.
He blasted the ‘failure of government’ to deliver screening when the tools exist to detect tumours early and treatment is easier and more successful.
The Daily Mail is campaigning to end needless prostate cancer deaths and for a national prostate cancer screening programme, initially targeted at high-risk men, such as those who are black, have a family history of the disease or particular genetic mutations including BRCA1 and BRCA2.
Sir James will tomorrow address delegates at the National Conference on Prostate Cancer Screening at Freemasons Hall in London.
Speaking ahead of the event, organised by the men’s health charity Chaps, he said: ‘The evidence is there. The need is clear.
‘A national screening programme for prostate cancer is a policy that would save lives, reduce pressure on the NHS by catching the disease earlier when treatment is less complex and less costly.
‘This is something I believe the Conservative Party should commit to, and I will be advocating for it.
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch and housing spokesman Sir James Cleverly during a visit to Essex earlier this year
‘My father was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He died with it rather than from it, but I saw at first hand what the disease puts a family through.
‘I do not want anyone to suffer unnecessarily from this disease when we have the tools to detect it early.’
It comes as the UK national screening committee (UKNSC), which advises ministers, is preparing to publish its final guidance on screening men for prostate cancer.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in the UK, with 63,000 cases and 12,000 deaths each year – but unlike breast, bowel and lung cancer, there is currently no national screening programme.
In a draft recommendation last year, the UKNSC only recommended screening men with BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes every two years between the ages of 45 and 61.
It would not recommend population screening using the prostate specific antigen (PSA) blood test because it may result in too many men undergoing unnecessary biopsies or surgery for tumours that would never have caused them harm in their lifetime.
However, a review by York Health Economics Consortium has found the model used by the UKNSC relied on outdated data, diagnosis methods and treatments; failed to account for the impact of a coordinated screening programme on the UK’s existing testing landscape; and did not address serious population health inequalities.
The Daily Mail is campaigning to end needless prostate cancer deaths and for a targeted national prostate cancer screening programme
Sir James said a national screening programme for prostate cancer using the prostate specific antigen (PSA) blood test is ‘a policy that would save lives’
Analysis of contemporary MRI-led screening studies suggests that the model cited by the UKNHS may have substantially overstated the harms up seven-fold.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he was surprised by the UKNSC’s draft recommendation and vowed to consider the views of charities and other experts before making a final decision.
Sir James warned that prostate cancer remains a major and growing health challenge, saying: ‘Prostate cancer has now overtaken breast cancer as the most diagnosed cancer in the UK.
‘Yet there is still no national screening programme. That is unacceptable.
‘The fact that we have the tools to detect this disease early, we know who is most at risk, and we are still not acting on that knowledge at a national level is a failure of the government.’
Addressing men who may be hesitant to come forward for testing, Sir James said: ‘Caught early, prostate cancer is very treatable.
‘Left undetected, it can be fatal. I know that there is a stigma around the testing, but men can now just ask their GP to have a PSA blood test.
‘In its early stages, prostate cancer often has no symptoms, which is why it is so important for every man over the age of 50, black or with a family history, to take a PSA test.
‘That small blood sample can and does save lives.’
He also set out what further action he believes is needed from the government, saying: ‘The Government should be expanding access to PSA testing, improving GP referral rates and investing in the infrastructure needed to support a national programme when it comes.
‘Every year they delay costs lives.’
The conference will bring together leading clinicians, researchers and policymakers.
Chris Booth, founder and chairman of Chaps, said: ‘The conference highlights the UK’s unacceptably high prostate cancer death rate and systemic failures in early detection, particularly around the PSA blood test.’
A recent Chaps audit of 8,808 PSA tests carried out between 2022 and 2024 identified 674 abnormal results but only 250 were referred by GPs for specialist investigation.
