Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to encourage the introduction of the Prostate-Specific Antigen blood test on the NHS for men (a) a strong family history of prostate cancer and (b) under 50.

Too many cancer patients are waiting too long to be treated, and we are determined to change that through faster and earlier diagnosis. We are investing £16 million towards the Prostate Cancer UK led TRANSFORM screening trial seeking to find better methods to catch prostate cancer. NHS England is taking steps to raise awareness of the symptoms of prostate cancer, where there are opportunities to do so.

The UK National Screening Committee does not currently recommend screening for prostate cancer as the prostate-specific antigen test does not meet the required accuracy for use in a national screening programme. Current methods offer insufficient benefits in relation to harms caused by overdiagnosis, such as invasive investigative procedures and unnecessary treatment.