Better and cheaper': the case for prostate cancer screening among black men

"Junior Hemans was having a routine health check in 2014 when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, at the age of 51. He knew there was an increased risk of the disease in black men so asked to have a prostate specific antigen (PSA) test, which was not initially included. And when I went, they said I had a raised PSA level for my age, Hemans said. [The diagnosis] was a shock because I had no symptoms. The PSA test, which is used to check for conditions including prostate cancer or an enlarged prostate, is not offered on the NHS at present."

"Imagine if, back to when I was 51, there was a screening programme already in place [before my diagnosis], I could have been diagnosed earlier, he says. A screening programme saves more of the man, and gives us a better and cheaper means of saving that man. Although Hemans, who has now been successfully treated for the disease, was aware of his increased risk, he said he knew many other black men who did not have the same knowledge."

"Prostate cancer has overtaken breast cancer as the most commonly diagnosed cancer in England but there is no national screening programme despite there being more than 55,000 new cases annually. One in eight men will be diagnosed with the disease in their lifetimes, but black men face a much higher risk at one in four. The UK National Screening Committee (NSC) is due to decide at the end of the month whether to recommend introducing an NHS screening programme for prostate cancer and experts are calling for it to be targeted at high risk groups, including black men."

Junior Hemans was diagnosed with prostate cancer at 51 after requesting a PSA test during a routine check, because he knew Black men face higher risk. The PSA test is not routinely offered on the NHS, prompting calls for a targeted national screening programme for men at highest risk. Prostate cancer now exceeds breast cancer in new diagnoses in England, with over 55,000 cases annually. One in eight men will develop the disease, rising to one in four for Black men. The UK National Screening Committee will decide whether to recommend targeted screening for high-risk groups.

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