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This article is from
Upfront
March 1999
Upfront
UK Prostate Cancer Survival Among Lowest in Europe, Incidence on Rise in Younger Men
31 March 1999. Michael Aris, scholar and husband of Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, died March 27 in a London, UK hospital of prostate cancer at age 53.. His death brought home to the British public that prostate cancer is killing men in the prime of life.
Within days of Aris's death the first patient-doctor sponsored international conference on prostate cancer (planned months ahead) held in London, called for action on the threat to younger men.
Derek Hargreaves, Ph.D., an organizer from The Prostate Cancer Charity, said the latest medical research "overturns the common perception of prostate cancer as a harmless disease only affecting old men."
Cases of prostate cancer have increased by 50 per cent in the last 20 years in men under the age of 60 [1], said Professor Michel Coleman, Professor of Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, speaking during the conference.
The five-year survival rate for prostate cancer in England stands at only 45 per cent - among the lowest in Europe and some 15-20 per cent lower than European countries with the best survival rates [2].
Contrast Breast Cancer
Dr Jonathan Waxman, chairman of The Prostate Cancer Charity and consultant physician at UK's Hammersmith Hospital, London, said "There is this myth that prostate cancer is a disease of old age and doesnÂt actually kill people: this is clearly not true. It is a major public health problem and must be recognized as such."
Dr Waxman said there are many similarities between breast and prostate cancer, with a couple of crucial exceptions. Firstly, far less money is devoted to fighting prostate cancer. "Department of Health funding of research for breast cancer reached £4.4 million in 1997/98. This compares with just £47,000 for prostate cancer in the same year."
"And, while the media profile of breast cancer is very high," Waxman said, "that of prostate cancer is very low. We have to learn from the feminist movement. It is up to us as patients and doctors to change the way that this dreadful disease is viewed. It has to become an important public health priority."
Case for Screening
In particular, Dr Waxman said there is an urgent need to reconsider the case for screening. Speaking for screening in a debate on the issue, Mr Leslie Moffat, senior urological consultant at the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary said: "Prostate cancer is an important public health problem; there are safe and effective screening tests; the disease can be detected at an early stage; and early treatment does improve outcome and reduce death rates. And, although certain issues remain to be resolved, the pendulum is now beginning to swing in favor of screening."
Even Professor Malcolm Mason of the University of Wales College of Medicine, who presented the case against screening, said: "Although I donÂt support the introduction of a screening program tomorrow, I am not arguing against research into screening. The issue is too important to reject outright."
UK Health Service Anti Screening
But two recent proposals on pilot tests of screening submitted to the NHS have both been rejected. Speaking early on in the meeting, Baroness Hayman, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Department of Health said :"At present evidence suggests that prostate cancer does not meet the strict criterion for screening."
Dr. Thomas Stuttaford, who has recently undergone surgery for prostate cancer and who chaired the meeting made his views clear: " I have a personal interest as well as professional interest in prostate cancer. Two of my uncles and father died from prostate cancer and my elder brother died two months ago. His case was very similar to mine, but the crucial difference was that I was screened and he wasnÂt. If he was he might be here today."
A main aim of the meeting was to inform patients about prostate cancer, the treatment options and their side effects. The audience was largely made up of men with prostate cancer, many of whom had only learnt about their prostate cancer through private screening. These men, their wives and their doctors virtually unanimously supported the case for screening, Hargreaves said.
Links to abstracts of 2 articles referred to by conferences speakers:
1. Post PN et al (1999) British Journal of Cancer 79:13-17
2.Post PN et al (1998) European Journal of Cancer 34: 2226-2231.
You can visit The Prostate Cancer Charity's website (UK) from our PCa Links page
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