GPs under fire over prostate cancer test that 'could save 100 lives a year'

Published on Saturday 6 June 2009 19:53

MEN in Glasgow are up to four times more likely to die of prostate cancer than in other parts of the UK because GPs are failing to detect the disease early, a leading surgeon has warned.

Up to 100 deaths could be avoided every year in the west of Scotland if men were given routine tests for the disease, according to Professor Hing Leung, a consultant urological surgeon from the Beatson Institute for Cancer Research in Glasgow. He said the region had some of the worst rates of prostate cancer deaths in the country and called for more "well man" checks to save lives.

Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men, affecting about 2,500 patients each year in Scotland, and causing some 800 deaths. It mainly affects men over the age of 50.

Men show no symptoms during the early stages of the disease, but it can be picked up through routine blood tests.

However, Leung said doctors were not carrying out as many blood checks as they should. He said between 30 and 40 per cent of patients diagnosed with prostate cancer in Glasgow had cases that were so advanced they were incurable, compared with only 10 per cent in other parts of the UK.

In Glasgow and Lanarkshire, there are about 670 cases each year, and some 270 deaths. But up to 100 deaths could be prevented with better testing.

Leung said: "In the west of Scotland, patients come with more advanced cancer than anywhere else, because testing is not commonly used. We are still seeing a lot of patients who have advanced cancer and are beyond cure.

"The uptake of testing is lower in Greater Glasgow and Lanarkshire than in other parts of Scotland. We are behind many parts of the UK and Scotland, and, as a result, we see a lot of advanced cancer that is beyond cure."

He added: "Some patients ask for a test and have a problem because their GP does not want to do it."

Symptoms of prostate cancer include problems urinating or passing urine more often than usual. Early signs can be detected in the blood using a Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) test. However, if the patient is found to have cancer, doctors are faced with a dilemma, because often it will be so slow-growing that it is unlikely to become a problem, and monitoring is recommended instead of treatment.

But in some cases, the cancer is very aggressive and needs treatment, such as surgery.

John Neate, chief executive of the Prostate Cancer Charity said: "Currently, many men who request a test face opposition from their own GPs, who themselves are either not fully aware of the issues surrounding the test or do not support a man's right to make an informed decision to have it."

But Alan McDevitt, a GP in Clydebank and joint vice-chairman of the British Medical Association's Scottish GP committee, said: "It's naive to say that GPs don't know about prostate cancer. The trouble with the test is that it's not that good and a moderate result could mean early cancer, but it might not. If someone gets that result, it means invasive tests and uncertainty, so it's a very difficult one to call."

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said it had asked experts to consider whether there should be a national screening programme.

A spokeswoman for NHS Greater Glasgow said it had some of the most deprived parts of the UK within its boundaries and that poverty had an impact on the health of local people.