Theresa May launches £75m drive against prostate cancer

Theresa May launches £75m drive against prostate cancer

The prime minister is to launch a new drive against prostate cancer, which kills more than 11,000 men every year in the UK and causes great anxiety and sometimes suffering for the 47,000 men who get a diagnosis.

Theresa May will announce £75m for research that will recruit 40,000 men into trials for better diagnosis and treatments for the disease, which recently overtook breast cancer to become the third biggest cancer killer in the UK. That is partly down to earlier detection and better treatment of breast cancer, and to men living to an older age. But campaigners have long argued that prostate cancer has not had the attention and funding it needs.

“Too many people endure the loss of a loved one because cancer diagnosis comes too late in the day,” said May ahead of a visit to a Cambridgeshire hospital on Tuesday where she will announce the initiative.

“Our cancer treatments are world-class and survival rates are at a record high, but prostate cancer still claims thousands of lives every year. I know we can do more. That’s why I am setting out new plans to help thousands of men get treated earlier and faster.”

The biggest issue in prostate cancer is establishing which men have a form that will rapidly grow and could be lethal and which have a slow-growing tumour that may not affect their long-term health. Many men will live with prostate cancer and die of other things.

A raised PSA (prostate-specific antigen) level in the blood can be a signal of prostate cancer, but sometimes is not. In the UK, it is not considered a good enough marker for a screening programme. Many men with raised PSA levels will be advised to wait and see what happens – so called “watchful waiting”. Surgery to remove the tumour can leave men incontinent and impotent.

Prof Mark Emberton from University College Hospital in London, who leads a pioneering prostate cancer research team, said the death rates were still high “because we have been using the wrong test”. The PSA test followed by a biopsy “does not identify the men at risk”, he said. He and others have investigated the use of MRI scans after blood tests, which have successfully identified a greater proportion of the aggressive tumours.

The new money will be channelled through the National Institute for Health Research clinical research network. “The NIHR will work closely with the NHS, life sciences industry, charities and research funders to support the recruitment of 40,000 men into research studies over the next five years,” said chief executive Dr Jonathan Sheffield. “This will provide more opportunities for earlier access to new drugs and therapies, which will ultimately lead to improved diagnoses and care in the future.”

According to the Department of Health, the new studies will particularly target people at higher risk – including black men, one in four of whom will develop the disease – as well as men with a family history of prostate cancer.

Over 40,000 patients will be recruited for more than 60 studies to test treatments including more precise radiotherapy, high-intensity focused ultrasound and cryotherapy alongside supportive interventions such as exercise and dietary advice.

May will also talk about her pledge for a fully funded long-term plan for the NHS. “Now in its 70th year, our NHS has a bright future – since last November, we have already committed £10bn in new funding, including a new pay deal for one million NHS workers,” she said. “In fact, as part of our balanced approach to managing the economy we have increased spending on the health service every year since 2010. But I’m clear the way to secure the NHS’s future is having a long-term plan, with sustainable multi-year funding.

“To inform this, I’ll be meeting doctors, nurses and other NHS staff to understand the challenges they face and discuss how we can effectively meet the demands of the future.”