Foundation Hails Select Committee Support For Prostate Screening Pilots

A prostate cancer screening programme which could save hundreds of lives a year has won conditional backing from an influential Parliamentary committee.

In a report presented to Parliament, the petitions select committee said “we encourage the Government to consider a pilot prostate cancer screening programme in a region with appropriate MRI capacity”.

The Prostate Cancer Foundation applauds the report of the multi-party committee, which spent more than a year collating evidence and hearing submissions before reporting back on the 30,000-signature petition of Kristine Hayward, who lost her husband to prostate cancer.

“Gaining an endorsement from a select committee is a huge boost to launching a prostate cancer screening programme, which starts with a simple blood test and could halve the number of deaths from prostate cancer,” said Danny Bedingfield, President of the Prostate Cancer Foundation.

The Foundation has been encouraging successive Ministers of Health to establish two pilots that would guide an eventual national screening programme for at-risk men.

“Pilots are important for learning the lessons on how to optimally engage with and screen New Zealand men in the same way that women are successfully screened for cervical and breast cancer,” Bedingfield says.

The Foundation paid tribute to Kristine, whose husband Bruce died from prostate cancer about five years ago, aged 66. He’s one of 700 New Zealanders who die each year from the disease.

Because his death could be prevented, Kristine launched a petition calling for an early detection programme. The petition was handed over on the steps of Parliament in July 2023.

Bruce, a registered nurse like Kristine, had regular medical check-ups with his GP which included prostate-specific antigen (PSA) tests. These showed that his levels were rising – a key warning sign – but by the time he was referred to a specialist his cancer had metastasised and could not be treated.

More than 4000 men are diagnosed annually – a number which is expected to rise each year – but clinicians believe there are many more whose cancer goes undetected.

Current testing is unfunded, disorganised and inequitable, allowing too many men to die, Bedingfield said.

“There’s no centralised national screening programme and things need to change to provide better healthcare for New Zealand men,” he said.

The Prostate Cancer Foundation is asking the Government to fund two PSA screening pilots which would test men based on age and familial and genetic risk. The estimated cost is a relatively low $6.4 million, and learnings would inform an eventual national population-based screening programme.

“Pilots will help us develop a comprehensive, optimum clinical care pathway for prostate cancer, which if done properly will take care of any issues with diagnosis and overtreatment,” Bedingfield said. “We really need to move now on piloting so we learn the lessons we need to learn.”

“We note the the committee’s concerns about access to MRI equipment and a workforce to operate it, but there are regions that have capacity for extra scans. These should host a pilot.”

Due to an ageing population, the number of prostate cancer cases is likely to double by 2040. The clock is ticking. “We need to pay attention to that now and start piloting prostate cancer screening,” Bedingfield said.

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