A UK expert health panel has advised against offering prostate cancer screening to most men, saying the potential harms outweigh the benefits. Charities and public figures have expressed “deep disappointment” at the decision.
The UK National Screening Committee (UKNSC) instead recommends targeted screening only for men with BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene variants, who are at higher risk of aggressive prostate cancer. These men could be screened every two years between ages 45 and 61.
The committee found that nationwide PSA screening would lead to high levels of overdiagnosis—detecting many slow-growing cancers that would never cause harm—while only slightly reducing deaths. Evidence for screening Black men or men with a family history of cancer was judged too weak to justify targeted programmes.
Prostate cancer is the most common male cancer in the UK, but PSA testing remains unreliable. Up to half of PSA-detected cancers may be slow-growing, and unnecessary treatment can cause lifelong side-effects such as incontinence and erectile dysfunction.
While Cancer Research UK and the Royal College of GPs supported the evidence-based decision, groups such as Prostate Cancer UK and Prostate Cancer Research, along with Stephen Fry, Rishi Sunak, and David Cameron, criticised the exclusion of high-risk groups.
Health secretary Wes Streeting said he will closely review the evidence before a final recommendation is made in March.
