Prostate Cancer Screening

Helen Maguire Excerpts

Monday 26th October 2026 Westminster Hall

[Helen Maguire (Epsom and Ewell) (LD)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Murrison. I thank the hon. Member for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk (John Lamont) for securing this important debate.

Prostate cancer is now the most commonly diagnosed cancer in men in the UK. Around 540,000 men are living with or after prostate cancer. Each year, more than 64,000 men are diagnosed and over 12,000 will die from prostate cancer. One man dies of prostate cancer every 45 minutes—two lives will be lost in the short time of this debate.

The estimated lifetime risk is one in eight for men overall, but that rises to one in four for black men. In England, black men are also twice as likely to die from prostate cancer as white men, with a lifetime risk of one in 12 compared with one in 24. Like with all cancers, the earlier the stage at diagnosis, the better the chances of survival: five-year survival rates are almost 100% at stages 1 and 2, around 95% at stage 3 and around 50% at stage 4.

Who is diagnosed late also follows a pattern. In England, men in the most deprived areas have an 11% higher chance of a metastatic diagnosis. Men in the most deprived areas also have a 19% lower chance of receiving a prostate cancer diagnosis than men in the least deprived areas. Prostate cancer mortality rates in England mirror that diagnosis trend. Mortality rates are 14% higher for men in the most deprived areas than for men in the least deprived areas, and around 740 deaths from prostate cancer each year are linked with deprivation.

Incidence rates of prostate cancer have risen by 54% since the early 1990s and are projected to rise a further 14% by 2038-40. That means around 85,100 new cases of prostate cancer each year. Part of the rise in diagnoses reflects much greater awareness, with more men coming forward for PSA tests. The issue of prostate cancer screening could not be more important.

The Liberal Democrats applaud the tireless hard work of all cancer survivors, bereaved families and campaigners in securing a screening programme. However, we must do more to fight this devastating disease, and that is something the Liberal Democrats have continuously campaigned on. The Liberal Democrats are proud that our campaigning played a role in driving the Government to take action on this issue and ultimately deliver a prostate cancer screening programme. The programme will save thousands of lives, and it is unacceptable that no screening programme existed previously.

Screening programmes are standard across a range of cancers, but until recently there was no screening programme for prostate cancer at all—there is now only a targeted programme. The Government must urgently guarantee the delivery of the targeted screening programme across the country. That will lay the foundations and establish the infrastructure needed to further broaden screening as soon as possible. The Government must make improved testing for prostate cancer a priority; it is fundamental to saving lives. The Liberal Democrats will hold them to account on delivering better testing and ensuring that more men can be protected from this devastating illness.

The issue of prostate cancer testing has been handled, in many instances, very insensitively. Alongside the announcement of the screening programme, the NHS quietly tried to change the rules around a man’s right to request a PSA blood test. That is not right. It is shocking that it then told campaigners and NHS staff that that had been the case all along. It is simply not good enough.

Patients and their families deserve honesty and transparency. Is it really the Minister’s position that we should change years of standard practice and prevent men from making an informed choice to request a test? What has changed in the past few months to cause such a backward step in access? Was there any new evidence that informed the decision?

Improved screening must go hand in hand with faster treatment and a guarantee: it must be written into law and backed by investment that every patient, including those with prostate cancer, is treated within 62 days. The Liberal Democrats recognise that speed and quality of treatment are central to increasing survival rates of prostate cancer. To achieve that, we would introduce a guarantee that 100% of patients will be able to start treatment within 62 days from urgent referral, and we would replace ageing radiotherapy machines and increase their number so that no one has to travel too far for treatment. Liberal Democrat research last year found that eight in 10 hospitals are using outdated medical equipment, such as MRI scanners. Those machines are essential to fully diagnosing prostate cancer.

We would recruit more cancer nurses so that every patient has a dedicated specialist supporting them throughout their treatment. We would expand the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s capacity in order to halve the time for new treatments to reach patients. The Liberal Democrats also want to make the UK a world leader in cancer research, and we are calling for a cancer survival research Act. That would require the Government to co-ordinate and ensure funding for research into cancers with the lowest survival rates, including brain cancer.

We would also start a fellowship programme for US cancer scientists who have seen their funding slashed by President Trump. That would waive the burdensome fees and bureaucracy for international researchers on the whole. Global talent visas for top researchers currently cost £6,000 per person for a five-year visa—that is £18,000 for a family of three. That is significantly more expensive than most of our competitor countries, where a similar visa is typically £200 or £300 per person. The cost of visas for Cancer Research UK alone is £900,000 a year, which is the equivalent of setting up two new research labs every year.

The fellowship scheme would also deliver more funding for salary and research costs for researchers by expanding the share of GDP being spent on research and development to 3.5%. That would unlock hundreds of millions of pounds per year for cancer research and billions more for our life sciences sector generally. We would deliver that through a decade-long programme of public investment into R&D.

I therefore urge the Minister to reflect on all the contributions and the calls made by me and my colleagues for the 540,000 men who live with or after prostate cancer, for their loved ones, and for the two men who will have lost their lives to prostate cancer in the short 90 minutes of this debate.