What consideration it has given to introducing routine prostate cancer screening for men in their 40s.

The Scottish Government, along with the other UK nations, relies on advice about screening programmes from the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), an independent expert advisory group.Population screening for prostate cancer was last reviewed by the UK NSC in November 2020 when they concluded that the benefits of screening did not outweigh the potential risk of harm. As you may be aware, I have recently written to the UK NSC to ask them to review this matter again. The UK NSC chairman, Sir Mike Richards, has responded with assurance that this issue is a high priority for the Committee.I am also encouraged that a large-scale study (TRANSFORM) has been launched to provide valuable evidence, looking at potential innovative screening methods and recruiting hundreds of thousands of men for the research. The UK NSC have committed to assessing evidence as it is published throughout the trial, and this will inform any future recommendation.Should a recommendation be made to introduce prostate screening, the organisations that oversee screening will advise Scottish Ministers on how to take that recommendation forward.In the meantime, men and those with a prostate who are concerned they have possible symptoms should speak to their GP. There is a list of symptoms available on the NHS website: Prostate cancer
- NHS (www.nhs.uk).Men aged 50 or over can also discuss taking a PSA test with their GP, even if they do not have symptoms.