Prostate Cancer Screening: AI

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon Excerpts

Thursday 18th June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

I am so grateful to the noble Baroness, because I do not. However, I am aware of the great contribution being made to cancer detection, and the department is looking closely at that. I thank her for raising it.

[Baroness Royall of Blaisdon (Lab)]

My Lords, I warmly welcome the Government’s £42 million investment in the TRANSFORM trials, and I am extremely grateful. AI MRI tools are often trained on populations that underrepresent Black men, and they are at double the risk of prostate cancer. Will the Government require AI diagnostic tools to be independently validated on diverse populations before wider NHS use?

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

We always take into full account my noble friend’s very important point. She referred to the TRANSFORM trial, which will enable all eligible Black men to be invited to stage 2 of the trial. It is worth saying that Black men are historically underrepresented in clinical trials, and we are working closely with Prostate Cancer UK to work alongside and draw in communities from across the United Kingdom.