Prostate Cancer Screening

Lord Kamall Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

I do not have the specific answer to that, but we have to make sure that GPs in particular have the best guidance possible on picking up the signs they need to take care of, on the advice they give to people coming in, and on looking at the most appropriate way forward, whether it be testing or making sure that patients get access to the right treatment, should that be deemed essential.

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

My Lords, I pay tribute to the noble Baroness, Lady Royall, for championing this issue. Today’s announcement that Black men will be offered prostate cancer screening in the TRANSFORM trial is very welcome, given that Black men are around twice as likely to develop prostate cancer and die from it. So I have two quick questions. First, only last week, the Government backed a recommendation that did not include them for targeted screening, so, out of interest, can the Minister share with the House what new evidence came to light since then and led to today’s welcome announcement? It is not a trick question; I am just trying to understand that gap in evidence. Secondly, when will eligible Black men be invited to stage 2 of the trial?

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

We hope to get the trial up and running within the next year; we really are ready to go. I will have to write to the noble Lord on the specific detail for his first question—I do not have that to hand—but everyone wants to get moving on this. It has been a long time coming, and we are delighted that we have the go-ahead today to move forward.