‘Game-Changing’ Prostate Cancer Screening Trial Could Cut Deaths by 40%
According to Cancer Research UK, 12,000 lives are lost a year to prostate cancer, yet there is currently still no screening programme. But that could be about to change through a new £42m project called ‘Transform’, which experts are hailing as a ‘pivotal moment in the history of prostate cancer research.’
Previous trials that used prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood tests to screen for the disease showed the method prevented between 8% and 20% of deaths, depending on screening regularity, according to Prostate Cancer UK. The charity said Transform has the potential to reduce deaths by 40% and prevent men having to undergo potentially unnecessary biopsies and treatments.
How Transform Will Work
The first phase of Transform will involve 12,500 men – recruited from GP practices across the country – assessing methods including PSA blood tests, genetic testing and a faster version of the MRI scan, known as a Prostagram, against current NHS diagnostic methods to see which performs best.
The second stage of the trial, involving up to 300,000 men, will test the most promising options from stage one of the trial. The team will follow up with patients over at least a decade to track how screening impacted the length and quality of their lives.
Initial results from Transform are expected in three years.
At least one in 10 patients invited to participate will be black, as black men face double the risk of developing prostate cancer compared to other men.
Dr Matthew Hobbs, director of research at Prostate Cancer UK, said: ‘We know that earlier diagnosis saves lives, but previous trials haven’t been able to prove that enough men would be saved using PSA tests alone, while they did show that these old screening methods caused significant unnecessary harm to men.
‘We must now prove that there are better ways to find aggressive prostate cancer that will save even more lives… This is a pivotal moment in the history of prostate cancer research and we’re proud to be leading the way and to be supporting some of the best researchers in the world to make it happen.’
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