The majority of black people believe racism has played a role in not testing for prostate cancer

Nearly two-thirds (62%) of black people in Britain believe racial discrimination has stopped them or a loved one from having a prostate cancer test, a survey has found, despite black men being twice as likely to develop the disease development than the average population. adult male population.

A PSA test measures the level of the protein prostate-specific antigen in the blood and may be able to detect prostate cancer in its early stages.

But according to a questionnaire conducted by Prostate Cancer Research among 2,000 black adults in Britain, 24% of those who said they or a male loved one had requested a PSA test in the past year had not had one. When asked why they could not access the test, 32% said it was because their GP refused or said it was not necessary.

Screening for prostate cancer is not currently recommended by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Nice), which says routine PSA testing would “generate too many false positives and false negatives… resulting in potentially unnecessary and invasive testing and/or unnecessary treatments”.

The survey – of 1,000 black women and 1,000 black men – found that just under half (47%) think they will receive the same level of care from the NHS as a white person. When asked if they believed racial discrimination had prevented them or a loved one from being routinely screened for prostate cancer, 62% of respondents said yes.

The report also found that 84% of black people believed there should be more medical research that included black people. A similar figure (83%) agreed that more black people should participate in medical research and 73% said things would only improve if that happened.

Black men in Britain are at greater risk of developing prostate cancer than other men. A quarter of black men will be diagnosed with the disease, compared to an eighth of all men.

More than a million men worldwide are diagnosed with the disease every year. Survival rates are relatively good: 78% of men survive 10 years or more after diagnosis, especially if the diagnosis is made early. Many can live for decades without symptoms or treatment.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in Britain, with 55,100 new cases every year, according to Cancer Research UK.

Oliver Kemp, the CEO of Prostate Cancer Research, said: “These black and white figures are shocking and an important call to action. It shouldn’t just be the community that has to solve this – just as we’ve seen community members come together around our Real Talk campaign, we’re calling on the government, the NHS and other partners to come together and work with us work to close this health gap.

“It is critical that we raise awareness not only among the community, but also among healthcare professionals and policy makers. We are calling on GPs to take into account the greater risk of black men when considering PSA testing, and calling on the government to introduce screening for men in high-risk groups – our data shows that 82% of black men are willing would be to participate in such a program. , if it were to be rolled out. It is staggering to think how many lives could be saved.”