The health secretary has ordered the NHS to review its guidance on testing for prostate cancer in light of Sir Chris Hoy’s “powerful” call for men to be screened in their 40s.
The Olympic cycling champion Hoy, who has terminal cancer, urged men with a family history of prostate cancer to see their GP for a blood test even if they are under 50.
“If you’ve got family history of it like I have, if you’re over the age of 45, go and ask your doctor,” Hoy told the BBC.
Currently, NHS guidelines for England say anyone can request a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test if they are over the age of 50.
Asked about Hoy’s comments, Wes Streeting, the health secretary, said: “I think he makes a powerful argument there.
“That’s why I’ve asked the NHS to look at the case for lowering the screening age on prostate cancer, and [he] even makes a particularly powerful case where there’s family history.”
Streeting’s intervention is likely to raise eyebrows among experts and doctors. There is no national screening programme for prostate cancer in the UK. This is because there is no reliable test that can pick up prostate cancer needing treatment at an early stage.
Researchers have also previously looked at the PSA test for prostate cancer screening in those without symptoms.
But, overall, studies show that this only leads to a small reduction in the number of men dying from prostate cancer. Studies also show that some men are diagnosed with a prostate cancer that would not have caused problems or needed treatment.
Hoy, who has terminal prostate cancer, said more men needed to come forward for the PSA blood test.
Both his grandfather and father had prostate cancer.
He said men should be able to get a screening test when they were younger.
“Catch it before you need to have any major treatment. To me it seems a no-brainer. Reduce the age, allow more men to just go in and get a blood test.
“Maybe people seeing this or hearing about my story – just by them asking their GP – will create enough of a surge of interest that people that make the decisions will go, ‘You know what, we need to address this.’ And in the long term this will save potentially millions of lives.”
The charity Prostate Cancer UK advises that black people or those with a family history of prostate cancer may want to speak to their GP about having a PSA test from the age of 45.
Men of any age with symptoms can request a test.
Men who have a brother or father with prostate cancer are 2.5 times more likely to develop the disease and the risk increases even further if they were under 60 when diagnosed.
