No 10 must rethink the rejected plan for 'life-saving' prostate cancer  screening, Rishi Sunak says

By SHAUN WOOLLER, EXECUTIVE HEALTH EDITOR Published: 23:24, 2 July 2026 | Updated: 23:24, 2 July 2026 Rishi Sunak has urged the next prime minister to take a fresh look at prostate cancer screening, saying a targeted programme for all men at high risk would save lives. The former Conservative PM said new political leadership offered an opportunity to revisit the issue after the current government took the 'deeply disappointing' decision not to press ahead with a major rollout. Mr Sunak said whoever is appointed health secretary should ask the UK National Screening Committee to re-examine the case, taking into account advances in treatment, modelling and emerging evidence. It comes amid widespread criticism of its recent recommendations to ministers and as newly elected MP Andy Burnham looks set to replace outgoing prime minister and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer within weeks. Mr Sunak, now an ambassador for the charity Prostate Cancer Research, told the Daily Mail: 'We're going to have a new prime minister, and a new prime minister is a chance to look at this issue again. 'I'd urge whoever is appointed health secretary to ask the committee to re-examine the issue, taking into account all the advances that we've seen in recent years. 'That's because I firmly believe that a targeted screening programme will save lives, and we should just take this step for men's health.' Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in the UK, with 63,000 cases and 12,000 deaths each year. Rishi Sunak (pictured) said whoever is appointed health secretary should ask the UK National Screening Committee to re-examine the case, taking into account advances in treatment, modelling and emerging evidence. But unlike breast, bowel and lung cancer, there is no national screening programme. The Daily Mail is campaigning to end needless prostate cancer deaths and for a national prostate cancer screening programme, initially targeted at high-risk men, such as those who are black, have a family history of the disease or specific genetic mutations. But as few as 1,500 men are likely to be invited for the checks when screening launches next year after the panel ruled it should be limited it to a much smaller cohort men aged 45 to 61 who have a rare gene mutation combined with a family history of breast, ovarian, pancreatic, or prostate cancer. The Daily Mail told yesterday [THU] how the UKNSC, which advised ministers on the decision, does not have any members who are prostate cancer experts or black. Oscar-winning director Sir Steve McQueen suggested it may have made a different choice had there been 'someone in the room who understood, from personal experience, what this disease does to black families'. Mr Sunak declined to comment directly on the membership of the committee, saying he wanted to focus on the substance of its decision. He said: 'I'm focused on the decision, and on the reasons for the decision, and the facts of the decision. 'My view is that the evidence is there, and there's going to be a new prime minister, a new health secretary, and that's an opportunity to ask the committee to re-examine the issue.' Mr Sunak's intervention comes as newly elected MP Andy Burnham (pictured) looks set to replace outgoing prime minister and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer within weeks. Mr Sunak said the committee should keep a 'living model' so that new evidence can be considered as it emerges, rather than waiting years for another review. He added that studies currently under way could strengthen the case for targeted screening and should be taken into account quickly. Asked whether he would raise the issue with the next prime minister and health secretary, Mr Sunak replied: 'Absolutely.' He said support for screening was not limited to one party and included campaigners, survivors, families and members of the medical community. Mr Sunak added: 'I've spent time myself going through the evidence, the numbers, talking to survivors, talking to families that have been affected. 'I know how meaningful this is to people up and down the country.' He stressed campaigners whose relatives' lives could have been saved, or who had survived prostate cancer themselves, were making the 'most powerful case' for change. 'It's just a privilege I have to amplify and support their voices,' he said. The committee ruled that the PSA blood test used to check for a marker of potential prostate cancer risk is not accurate enough for population-wide use. It concluded that treating these false positives - or those with prostate cancer that will progress too slowly to cause problems or early death - puts the men at unnecessary risk of impotence and incontinence. But Martin Davies, chairman of the Prostate Project charity, said the committee's concerns appeared to be based on 'out-of-date information'. The days when a positive PSA test led automatically to aggressive interventions was 'a thing of the past', he added. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? 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