Scottish men are more likely to be diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer than anywhere else in the UK, a new report has stated.
A charity has warned that patients across the UK face a "postcode lottery" of care, reports The Guardian. Prostate Cancer UK have reported that men in Scotland almost three times more likely to be diagnosed at a late stage compared with men in London.
The charity said that the proportion diagnosed when the disease may be too advanced to treat varied hugely depending on where patients lived.
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In Scotland, more than a third of men (35 per cent) are only diagnosed when the disease has reached stage 4 - meaning the cancer has spread to another part of the body
This stage of cancer is known as metastatic cancer - in London, the figure is as low as 12.5 per cent. Prostate Cancer UK analysed various datasets to find out the proportion of patients diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer.
After Scotland, the next highest proportion of men diagnosed at stage 4 was in north-east England and Yorkshire (20.1 per cent), followed by Northern Ireland (20 per cent), and Wales (19 per cent).
The analysis uses figures that were largely gathered before the pandemic, from 2014 until 2020. However, the charity suggested outcomes for men were unlikely to have improved since then, as health services across Scotland have been under significant pressure since.
Laura Kerby, the chief executive of Prostate Cancer UK, said: “This postcode lottery for cancer diagnosis simply isn’t fair, and the picture in Scotland is particularly shocking. Every man should get an equal chance of a cure, which is only possible if his cancer is caught early.
“Unfortunately, early prostate cancer usually doesn’t have any symptoms, which is why men need to be aware of their risk and should take our online risk checker to find out more.
"If you’re at higher risk – which includes all men over 50 – you’re entitled to a free PSA blood test from your GP.
"Because of their higher risk, we strongly recommend that black men and men with a family history of prostate cancer should speak to their GP from the age of 45.”
The NHS Inform website has lots of information about checking for prostate cancer, what support is available, and who to contact.
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