10,000 men continue to die from prostate cancer every year in the UK and despite the recent report by researchers at Bristol University (link 1, link 2) that the striking decline in deaths in the USA compared with the UK from 1994 to 2004 coincided with a much higher uptake of screening using the PSA test in the USA, the government still refuses to consider the use of the PSA test for screening or even to publicise the availability of the PSA test.
The Government's rationale is the potential harmful effects of screening for those men who show a raised PSA level for prostate cancer which include post biopsy bleeding, infection, impotence, and incontinence. These are potential side affects of a biopsy, not of screening using the PSA test or the physical DRE examination.
It can not be right to continue with the Status Quo whereby men with unknowingly raised PSA levels or knowledge of the PSA test will have to wait for symptoms to appear when the tumour has grown and treatment options or cure reduced.
I would like to point out the existence of two on-going petitions on the Government's on-line e-petition site.
(1) PETITION 1
The first has been instigated by the Association of International Cancer Research (AICR) which is has a link from their web site (link)
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to change NHS policy to make the PSA test available on demand for all men over 50 and help save more than 10,000 men who die of prostate cancer each year. One of the things American men have that our British men don't, is routine access to the PSA test, a blood test administered by GPs that can diagnose prostate cancer.
Although the test has some important drawbacks, evidence from around the world shows that the wider use of the PSA test is associated with higher prostate cancer survival rates.
In the UK, men who are concerned about their prostate have no automatic right to a PSA test. The five year survival rate of prostate cancer in the USA is 98.5, compared with just 70% here.
(2) PETITION 2
Petition 2 (link)
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to ensure that ALL men in the UK undergo a simple PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) blood test to screen for the early signs of prostate cancer, at the age of 45, recurring once every 3-5 years.
Prostate Cancer is on the increase in the UK and currently men do not have a standard test for this disease, unlike women who get a smear test and a Mammogram to check for both breast and cervical cancer.
The test for prostate cancer is initially simple, involving a blood test to check for a man's PSA levels. Through regular testing from the age of 45 onwards, hopefully more cases can be caught early before they spread and become inoperable.
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