Published on 24 February 2026, the UK National Screening Committee confirmed that the 12‑week public consultation on prostate cancer screening, opened on Friday 28 November 2025, has closed after receiving hundreds of responses. (gov.uk)
Consultation comments are no longer being accepted, but the underlying evidence review remains accessible via the UK NSC blog article issued when the exercise opened. The committee will analyse submissions at its March meeting before finalising advice to ministers on next steps. (gov.uk)
Feedback focused on a 2025 modelling study commissioned by the UK NSC and undertaken by the Sheffield School for Health and Related Research (SCHARR). The model examined potential screening strategies for four cohorts: all men, Black men, men with confirmed BRCA1 or BRCA2 variants, and men with a relevant family history of cancer. (gov.uk)
When the consultation opened, the UK NSC published a draft position. It proposed a targeted national programme offering biennial screening to men aged 45 to 61 with confirmed BRCA1/2 variants, while not recommending population screening or targeted screening for Black men or for men with a family history at this stage. The committee also indicated formal collaboration with the TRANSFORM screening trial to fill evidence gaps and to assess tests more accurate than PSA alone; the trial has begun inviting participants with £42 million backing from Prostate Cancer UK and government. (nationalscreening.blog.gov.uk)
The committee notes its longstanding view that a national programme has not been justified to date because PSA-based approaches can generate false positives and false negatives, make it difficult to distinguish indolent from aggressive disease, and risk overtreatment with long‑term side effects. The 2025 model drew on peer‑reviewed evidence and national datasets, was validated against the CAP and ERSPC trials, and assumes PSA as an initial test followed by MRI and biopsy where indicated. (nationalscreening.blog.gov.uk)
If consultation feedback does not require further analytical work, final evidence reports and the consultation summary will go to the 26 March 2026 UK NSC meeting, when members are expected to agree an updated recommendation. Following committee agreement, a final recommendation will be sent to ministers in the four UK nations, with documents to be published on the UK NSC’s prostate cancer recommendation page. (nationalscreening.blog.gov.uk)
Until ministers decide, policy is unchanged: there is no national screening programme for prostate cancer. Under the Prostate Cancer Risk Management Programme, asymptomatic individuals who request a PSA test can access it via their GP, with information to support informed choice. Guidance was updated on 12 December 2024 to clarify that access is not restricted by age. (nationalscreening.blog.gov.uk)
Any eventual programme would need to demonstrate, across the full pathway from invitation to diagnosis and treatment, that benefits outweigh harms in line with UK NSC criteria. The committee will work with the TRANSFORM team to obtain timely data on Black men and on those with a family history before returning to those cohorts. (nationalscreening.blog.gov.uk)
For commissioners and providers, the near‑term actions are monitoring the March outcome and maintaining current practice. Clinicians should continue to use NICE NG12 for symptomatic men and PCRMP materials for asymptomatic individuals who proactively request PSA testing, while ensuring patient communications reflect the consultation’s closure and pending ministerial decision. (gov.uk)