Cameron urges government to reject 'disappointing' prostate cancer screening guidance

The government has been urged to reject advice not to roll out a national prostate cancer screening programme, with former prime minister Lord David Cameron describing the recommendation as a "real step back".

The UK National Screening Committee (UKNSC) said only "a few thousand" high-risk men in the UK should be tested for prostate cancer.

It warned that attempting to detect the disease using the prostate specific antigen (PSA) blood test is "likely to cause more harm than good".

However, the committee recommended that men with BRCA2 genetic mutations - which puts them at far higher risk of prostate cancer - should be screened every two years, between the ages of 45 and 61, if they have a family history of certain cancers.

Its final decision differs from a draft recommendation published in November, which said men with both BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations should be screened.

The UKNSC also recommended against screening for other at-risk groups, including black men, saying there is "ongoing uncertainty on whether screening would cause more good than harm".

It said the main harms of population screening "include incontinence and erectile dysfunction in men who do not need treatment" for the disease.

The government will now consider the UKNSC's recommendation.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said Health Secretary James Murray "will give full and careful consideration to the recommendation", and will give an update on the government's response shortly.

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'Deeply disappointing'

Former prime minister Lord Cameron, who has been treated for prostate cancer, expressed disappointment over the news.

In a post on X he said the recommendation is "deeply disappointing and a real step back" and urged the health secretary to reject it.

"Prostate cancer can be symptomless early on - as it was in my case. That's why screening is essential - catching the cancers early when they can be more effectively and successfully treated, like with me," he said.

Similarly, Chiara De Biase, fundraising and health strategy director at Prostate Cancer UK, said the charity is "deeply disappointed" with the UKNSC recommendation.

"Without a screening programme for the UK's most common cancer, we lose more than 12,000 dads, brothers, and partners every single year," she said.

"We know that a mass screening programme could save thousands of men's lives, and while we recognise the current evidence does not yet show that screening all men at risk would do more good than harm, today's decision is a step backwards, narrowing the recommendation to a smaller pool of eligible men."

Screening decisions 'must be guided by current evidence'

However, Dr Ian Walker, executive director of policy at Cancer Research UK, said: "Prostate cancer remains the second biggest cancer killer of men, so it's critical that we find more ways to save lives from the disease.

"Screening decisions must be guided by the current evidence, with programmes only introduced when the benefits are shown to outweigh the harms, including unnecessary and invasive overtreatment.

"We urge the UK government to accept the UKNSC's recommendation."

(c) Sky News 2026: Cameron urges government to reject 'disappointing' prostate cancer screening guidance