High time men had the same rights as women to cancer screening programmes - Robert Minton-Taylor
Research into cancer has never been more far-reaching, but today on World Cancer Day there is little consensus as to what is causing the rocketing rates of cancer in young adults.
In 2022, around 16 per cent of the 20 million people with cancer worldwide were under 50. Cancer has always been markedly more of an older person’s disease, says Lynn Turner, director of research at Worldwide Cancer Research.
But there is hope at hand in addressing these worrying numbers. On a recent visit to Yorkshire Cancer Research’s headquarters in Hornbeam Park, Harrogate I learnt that they are funding a new £4.5m prostate screening trial that could save the lives of thousands of men in Yorkshire.
Called IMProVE, the clinical trial led by experts at the University of Sheffield in partnership with Queen Mary University of London, will aim to provide crucial evidence for a screening programme. The study will recruit men aged 50-69, with no previous diagnosis of prostate cancer.
Detecting prostate cancer at the earliest possible stage is the name of the game and Yorkshire Cancer Research has the wherewithal to significantly improve the length of survival for men. It’s too late for me as my cancer is terminal, but I am delighted that this could be a real gamechanger for many men.
More than 4,000 men have prostate cancer annually in Yorkshire. Of these, more than half are diagnosed at a late stage when there are fewer treatment options and the side effects from treatment can be much worse. A fact I know only too well as my stage four prostate cancer has spread from my prostate to my hips, back, chest cavity and lymph nodes.
However, routine PSA testing is not offered on the NHS. Men will only be offered a test if they are aged 50 or over and ask for it.
Given that prostate cancer is a big killer, it’s high time men had the same rights as women who have access to both a national breast and cervical screening programmes.
Think of all the days lost by men being unable to work because of chemotherapy, especially those who are ‘in trades’. Men are loath to complain and are unlikely to complain about prostate conditions, most notably when trying to pee. They feel embarrassed about talking about their ‘parts’.
Had my cancer been diagnosed earlier I could have had a prostatectomy and thus be looking at living longer than the six year estimate that I have been given.
However, I now realise that some of the symptoms of my stroke five years ago: neuropathic pain in my hand and aches and pains in my hips and lower back may have masked the onset of cancer.
This is not a criticism of the NHS. Airedale General Hospital’s Haematology and Oncology Day Unit (HODU), Bradford Royal Infirmary and Modality Partnership’s Fisher Medical Centre in Skipton are doing a superb job in looking after me during my chemotherapy and hormone treatment.
There are widespread disparities in the UK with detection of prostate cancer. Men in Yorkshire are more likely to be diagnosed with late-stage prostate cancer than men living in London. Twenty-three per cent of men in Yorkshire have advanced cancer when they are diagnosed, compared to 15 per cent in London.
Professor James Catto, professor of urology at the University of Sheffield and an honorary consultant urological surgeon at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS believes that the late diagnosis of prostate cancer in Yorkshire is due to low rates of PSA testing. Low rates of testing can be associated with deprivation and higher rates of late diagnosis can be found in underserved communities.
The NHS currently provides free screening for people most at risk of breast, cervical and bowel cancer, and lung health checks will be rolled out nationally by 2030.
However, the most common cancer in men, prostate cancer is still without an organised screening programme. I think that a national prostate screening programme would revolutionise the detection of early onset prostate cancer and have the lifesaving benefits that breast screening has had on women.
Dr Stuart Griffiths, director of research at Yorkshire Cancer Research, said: “Prostate cancer often doesn’t show any symptoms when it is at an early stage, so introducing a screening programme is vital.
“The new trial will investigate whether a programme that combines PSA blood tests with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans could save lives and if so, how it can be organised to reduce health inequalities.”
I am delighted that Yorkshire Cancer Research has had the foresight and funds to initiate these clinical trials. It’s a game changer. As a Yorkshireman I’m proud that it’s a Yorkshire-based cancer charity that has led the way in introducing these exciting and innovative trials which could potentially save the lives of thousands of men in the region.
Robert Minton-Taylor is a visiting fellow of Leeds Beckett University and a 'lived stroke advisor' for the West Yorkshire Association of Acute Trusts. He supports the cancer charities Yorkshire Cancer Research and Prostate Cancer UK and Hope for Tomorrow. He is also a public governor for Airedale NHS Foundation Trust.