Majority of black people think racism played role in failure to test for prostate cancer

Nearly two-thirds (62%) of black people in the UK believe racial discrimination has prevented them or a loved one from accessing a prostate cancer test, a survey has found, despite black men having twice the risk of developing the disease than the overall 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 survey conducted by Prostate Cancer Research of 2,000 black adults in the UK, 24% of those who said that either they or a male loved one requested a PSA test in the past year did not have one. Asked why they were not able to access the test, 32% said it was because their GP either refused or said it was not necessary.

Screening for prostate cancer is currently not 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 potential unnecessary and invasive tests and/or unnecessary treatment”.

The survey – of 1,000 black women and 1,000 black men – found that just under half (47%) believe they will receive the same level of care from the NHS as a white person. Asked if they believed that racial discrimination had stopped 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 take part in medical research and 73% said things would only improve if that happened.

Black men in the UK are at a higher risk of developing prostate cancer than other men. One-quarter of black men will be diagnosed with the disease, compared with one-eighth of all men.

More than a million men worldwide are diagnosed with the disease each year. The chances of survival are relatively good – 78% of men survive 10 years or more after diagnosis, particularly if diagnosed early. Many can live for decades without symptoms or needing treatment.

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

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

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

• This article was amended on 27 September 2024. An earlier version said that the Prostate Cancer Research report had found that “one in four black men in the UK” had been “refused a prostate cancer test by their GP”. This was not a finding supported by the underlying survey results and has been removed. Also, text has been amended to note that the report surveyed 1,000 black men and 1,000 black women, not “2,000 black men”; and to add additional context regarding the Nice guidelines on prostate cancer screening.