UK advises against mass prostate cancer screening

Scientific advisers have recommended against a population-wide prostate cancer screening programme in the United Kingdom, concluding that for most men the potential harms of testing outweigh the benefits. The final guidance from the UK National Screening Committee (UKNSC) states that only a very small, high-risk group—men with a specific genetic mutation and a relevant family history—should be offered regular screening.

The committee recommends that men with a BRCA2 gene variant, who also have a family history of breast, ovarian, pancreatic, or prostate cancer, should be invited for a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test every two years between the ages of 45 and 61. This is estimated to apply to a few thousand men annually. The final advice narrows the scope from a draft recommendation published in November, which had included men with BRCA1 mutations. Experts said new data published between the draft and final guidance showed the prostate cancer risk is significantly lower for those with BRCA1 variants.

For all other men, including those with a family history of cancer but no BRCA2 mutation and men from Black ethnic groups who are known to be at higher risk, the...