Prostate cancer: case finding scheme is unapproved “screening by stealth,” GPs claim

NHS England is set to launch pilots of prostate cancer case finding across the country, with the aim of closing the “treatment gap” created during the covid pandemic and improving early identification and diagnosis.

A slide deck prepared by NHS England and NHS Improvement, seen by The BMJ, says that the pilots will target men at risk, defined as all men over 50, men with a close relative who has had prostate cancer, and black men over 45. It will invite these men for a prostate specific antigen (PSA) test, “counselling conversations and onward PSA testing” (box 1). During the pandemic ​​13 000 fewer people than expected started treatment for prostate cancer, NHS England has said.