Finding the best way to screen for prostate cancer will help to save the lives of many men.
Prostate Cancer UK is funding a £42 million project, TRANSFORM, where experts will compare different ways of screening to find the safest, most accurate, and most cost-effective way to screen men for prostate cancer.
Black men are twice more likely to get prostate cancer than other men in the UK.
Potential to reduce prostate cancer deaths by 40%.
TRANSFORM will test new approaches that have the potential to reduce prostate cancer deaths by 40%. This will be more than double what can be most achieved using current regular screening programmes.
With more than 12,000 prostate cancer deaths in the UK alone this could mean thousands of men saved each year in the UK, and many thousands more worldwide.
Trial stages
The first stage of the trial will take around three years and involve around 12,500 men. During this stage, researchers will look at four potential screening options.
These new approaches will be compared to the current NHS diagnostic process to show which methods are most accurate and should therefore be taken forward into the second, larger stage of the trial.
The trial is designed so that the results from the first stage, especially about the benefits and harms of the tests used in the NHS today, will provide better understanding and could inform the way men are tested for prostate cancer.
This could save thousands of men’s lives every year in the UK alone. But it won’t just be the UK – this trial could change practice globally, so we’re into tens of thousands of men saved each year.
Screening could save thousands of lives
Dr Matthew Hobbs, Director of Research at Prostate Cancer UK, said: “Prostate cancer is the most common cancer without a screening programme and it’s about time we changed that.
“That’s why I’m so delighted and proud to announce TRANSFORM. This is the research that will get us to a screening programme. It’s the biggest research investment we’ve ever made – but by putting this money in now, we expect to double the number of men that could be saved by screening, while at the same time reducing any harm caused.
“This could save thousands of men’s lives every year in the UK alone. But it won’t just be the UK – this trial could change practice globally, so we’re into tens of thousands of men saved each year.
“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.”
