Sir Chris Hoy – terminal prostate cancer (Image: Getty)
A NEW test for prostate cancer shown to be more than 90 per cent accurate at detecting the disease is set to save thousands of lives.
The simple blood test, developed by a British biotech company, identifies abnormal immune cells which act as a marker of this cancer.
Ministers have been urged to adopt this test as the existing prostate specific antigen (PSA) blood test is notoriously unreliable.
Three out of four men with a raised PSA level do not have prostate cancer and one in seven men with a normal PSA result have the disease.
Six times gold-medal winning Olympic cyclist Sir Chris Hoy, 48, who was diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer earlier this year, has been campaigning for more screening of men aged 45, as opposed to the current age of 50.
Trials have shown the new test, the Epi-Switch PSE, developed with scientists from the University of East Anglia and London’s Imperial College, in collaboration with Oxford Biodynamics, can pick out men with prostate cancer 92 per cent of the time.
It was also able to correctly identify men who did not have prostate cancer 94 per cent of the time.
Prostate cancer blood test “90 per cent accuracy” (Image: Getty)
The charity Prostate Cancer Research recently delivered a report to Parliament outlining the benefits of the EpiSwitch PSE test and other similar advanced prostate cancer blood tests.
Its report was presented at a summit of MPs attended by , the Match of the Day presenter, Oscar-winning film director Sir Steve McQueen and the Foreign Secretary David Lammy.
The charity believes the new blood test could save thousands of lives a year and reduce the number of unnecessary biopsies by 50 per cent.
There are more than 52,000 new cases of prostate cancer diagnosed each year and 12,000 deaths.
But unlike breast, bowel and cervical cancer, there is currently no reliable NHS screening for the disease.
Every year tens of thousands of men undergo a tissue biopsy of the prostate gland and an expensive MRI as a result.
The EpiSwitch PSE test detects specific immune cell changes in the blood if prostate cancer is present. When combined with the PSA test the cancer check is far more accurate than PSA alone.
Dr Jayne Spink, research director of the charity, said: “The future of prostate cancer screening lies in integrating new tests.
“Our report finds we could save 19 thousand years of life from a five-year screening programme if the technology that already exists were to be adopted.”
Prostate Cancer Research believes that the timing is ideal to explore innovative screening strategies and consider their benefits to patients, their loved ones and society as a whole.
Despite the significant increase in accuracy detection rates demonstrated by the EpiSwitch PSE, Oxford BioDynamics has been unable to land a large-scale clinical study with the NHS.
The PSE test is on offer privately in the UK, including at the London Clinic which diagnosed King Charles with a prostate-related condition, and a network of more than 140 Goodbody clinics across the country.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Prostate cancer patients are waiting too long for diagnosis and treatment, and we are working to change that.
“The UK National Screening Committee is urgently reviewing the evidence for prostate cancer screening programmes including targeted approaches for those at higher risk.
“Our first ever men’s health strategy will consider how to prevent and tackle the biggest health problems affecting men of all ages.”