Prostate cancer screening: a life-saving test or a risky gamble?

Study finds prostate cancer screening can cut deaths by 13 per cent

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Prostate cancer screening can reduce deaths by 13%, a major study suggests strengthening calls for a national testing programme as UK health chiefs weigh whether to roll one out.

Experts on the UK National Screening Committee are currently reviewing whether to introduce routine prostate cancer screening, with a decision expected before the end of the year.

The new study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that a "targeted" approach to screening could reduce deaths while limiting "overdiagnosis".

Researchers examined the risks and benefits of prostate cancer screening in eight European countries over 23 years, analysing data from 162,000 men, 72,000 of whom were invited for screening.

They found that one death from prostate cancer was prevented for every 456 men invited for screening, and one for every 12 men diagnosed through testing. Commentators said the findings are "comparable to that seen with breast or bowel cancer screening".

The authors said screening has "a more favourable harm-to-benefit profile than previously estimated", though they warned that unnecessary testing, biopsies and overtreatment remain "critical concerns".