Prostate cancer screening only for 'a few thousand' high risk men

Only "a few thousand" men who have a dangerous genetic variant and a family history of cancer should be screened for prostate cancer with a blood test, according to the final recommendations of scientific advisers.

The UK's National Screening Committee says the harms of screening outweigh the benefits in all other groups.

Testing healthy men for prostate cancer does save lives, but also leads to treatment that can leave men unable to control their bladder or have an erection.

The final decision though rests with health ministers in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The prostate sits just below the bladder and has a vital role in male anatomy as it helps make part of the seminal fluid and can affect the flow of urine.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men and kills 12,000 people across the UK each year.

Prostate screening – which is when healthy people are checked for disease – involves a blood test called prostate specific antigen or PSA and, depending on the results, a follow up MRI scan of the prostate.

A major review by the National Screening Committee said for every 1,000 men screened in their 50s, it would save two lives from prostate cancer over the next 15 years.