Thousands of men with prostate cancer risk life-changing side effects because they aren’t offered type of therapy received by David Cameron
Thousands of men with prostate cancer are facing life-changing side effects during treatment because they are not offered the therapy offered to David Cameron.
The former prime minister announced last week that he had been successfully treated with focal therapy, a targeted approach that is less invasive than traditional surgery or radiotherapy.
Its treatment significantly reduces the risk of side effects such as erectile dysfunction and urinary incontinence, which can affect up to 20 percent of men with a standard operation.
It’s also much cheaper, patients are often in and out of the hospital within a day, and they’re less likely to need follow-up care.
But only seven NHS hospitals, all in London and the South East, provide the service. The charity Prost8 says a third of men needing urgent treatment – the equivalent of 17,000 a year – will receive the help, but only around 700 people are offered it.
Prost8 founder Paul Sayer, whose prostate cancer was successfully treated with focal therapy, said the NHS had betrayed thousands of men.
‘I speak to men who are terrified and have been wrongly led to believe they only have two options: surgery or radiotherapy,’ he said.
As focal therapy is relatively new, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is urging the NHS to exercise caution until more evidence is gathered about its effectiveness.
Lord Cameron, right, asked his wife Samantha, left, to have a prostate specific antigen (PSA) test after listening to a radio interview about the symptoms. It is believed that he was treated specially
The National Screening Committee has ruled out routine cancer screening for all men despite evidence that it could reduce the risk of death by 13 percent.
Instead, screening is recommended for men with BRCA1 and BRCA2 genetic variants.
Approximately 63,000 people are diagnosed with prostate cancer annually. It will be incurable for 10,000 people. An additional 5,600 people will have early-stage disease and be monitored.
Of the remaining 47,400 people, most are undergoing prostate removal surgery or radiotherapy, which treats the entire organ.
Focal therapy treats only the tumor, sparing healthy tissue, using laser ablation, sound waves, cryotherapy, or electrical pulses to generate heat or cold to destroy cancerous cells.
It is thought that only 600 to 700 men are offered it each year, but it is widely available privately for an average of £16,000.
Lord Cameron was asked by his wife Samantha to have a prostate specific antigen (PSA) test after listening to a radio interview about the symptoms. It is believed that he was treated specially.
The former prime minister announced last week that he had been successfully treated with focal therapy, a targeted approach that is less invasive than traditional surgery or radiotherapy.
Prost8 said focal therapy equipment was much cheaper than standard robotic surgery, costing £500,000 per unit compared to £1.7 million for the robot. The figures also show that focal treatment costs the NHS an average of £5,400 per patient, surgery £15,000 and radiotherapy £10,000.
Professor Hashim Ahmed, head of urology at Imperial College London, said of focal therapy: ‘Hospitals offering it cannot keep up with demand. ‘We need more hospitals, surgeons and capacity.’
An NHS spokesman said: ‘Current guidance notes the limited evidence for the effectiveness of cryotherapy and high-intensity focused ultrasound and does not recommend that they be routinely available on the NHS.’
