Thousands of men with prostate cancer facing unnecessary overtreatment, experts warn
A charity organization said that up to 5,000 men each year ‘outdated’ instructions can receive unnecessary excessive treatment for prostate cancer.
According to UK, prostate cancer, excessive treatment of the disease can lead to side effects such as erectile dysfunction or incontinence.
Patients who are unlikely to progress cancer may only need close monitoring. However, experts say that the current guidance, which is not up -to -date from the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE), creates the “wild west” in NHS.
The warning comes from the government that Sir Chris Hoy was currently advised for a national screening program for prostate cancer initiated after the call of the fourth stage in February 2024 after the diagnosis of prostate cancer was diagnosed in February 2024.
One of the four people diagnosed with prostate cancer will have a very slow growing cancer, it is unlikely to harm them.
Fine Guidance is currently advising active supervision as a preferred approach for men with the lowest risk cancer. However, these guidelines have not been updated since 2021, and Prostate cancer, UK, argues that they do not take into account the progress of test and diagnosis.
Professor Vincent Gnanapragasam, Professor of Urology at the University of Cambridge, said: “Active surveillance is the best treatment option for men with low probability of cancer progress or problems in their lives.
“But Nice has created deeply outdated instructions about how to supervise the surveillance by different medical teams. This inconsistency, instead, causes a lack of trust from patients with surveillance, which may prefer to risk harmful side effects.”
According to philanthropy, over -treatment rates in the UK vary between 2 and 24 percent, and warns that some men receive unnecessary treatment, and that others have a “postal code lottery”, where it is necessary. He also found that 35 hospitals constitute their own instructions on what to do.
63 -year -old Michael Lewis was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2020. Düş The nurse from Dudley, dedi he said.: “My doctors told me that my cancer was ‘low -risk’ and did not spread quickly, so when my PSA level started to rise again, I was active until 2024, so I had surgery to remove my prostat.
“Being on my active supervision meant that I didn’t have to be treated until I needed it. I was able to maintain my daily life without any side effects.
“Thanks to the progress in the research, we can say which prostate cancers require immediately treatment and which men will be monitored and delayed treatment and delay treatment.”
He said that prostate cancer therapies such as radiotherapy or surgery may lead to side effects such as incontinence or erectile dysfunction that may have a major mental and physical effect on men ”.
“Nice’s outdated guidance increases the likelihood of life -changing side effects,” he added. “How active supervision between hospitals is implemented throughout the UK and a postal code after excessive treatment leads to the confusion and inconsistency it causes.”
Philanthropy now repeats Nice’s call to update the guidance of active supervision, and claims that it can help prevent 5,000 men per year.
The UK’s National Screening Committee considers whether a national screening program for prostate cancer is currently presenting.
He said a beautiful spokesman: Iz We are determined to reflect our guides to reflect the best evidence and provide the best possible results to patients.
“We update our prostate cancer guide, including the review of active surveillance suggestions, and we will assess whether our suggestions of our cancer guides should be updated for prostate cancer for prostate cancer for prostate cancer for primary maintenance.”
