Press Release – 14th March 2014
During Prostate Cancer Awareness month in March, patient-led prostate cancer charity, Tackle, celebrates progress towards the penultimate stage of its population screening research trial, Riskman. The fourth of the five stages, Riskman Plus, would see 10,000 ethnically diverse men across 20 GP practices be tested using a risk calculator to accurately discover more high grade cancers. This will reduce the number of unnecessary biopsies for men with low grade cancers.
David Smith, Honorary Secretary, Tackle commented: “Prostate cancer is predicted to be the most common cancer by 2030 and receives only a fraction of the funding other types of cancer receive. We are now looking to find the £1.5M funding to help us take this major step towards population screening of prostate cancer. Alongside our partners from Poland and Stockholm we are now focusing on finding a genetic or biological marker to help increase accuracy of the risk calculator, testing this on 10,000 men and ultimately removing the need for Digital Rectal Examinations (DRE).”
Helping Tackle reach the goal of providing risk calculators to every GP in England and Wales is Dr Jon Rees and Professor Ken Muir who are overseeing the development of the trial in surgeries in Bristol and Salford and the medical schools of the Universities of Warwick and Manchester.
Throughout Prostate Cancer Awareness month and the rest of the year, Tackle, in partnership with the Graham Fulford Charitable Trust, will hold testing days at various race days and football clubs. 1 in 8 men and 1 in 4 Black Caribbean and Black African men will suffer from the disease. Every hour one man dies from prostate cancer which is the most common cancer amongst men.
As the Riskman trial progresses, Tackle will continue to advocate regular Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) testing for men over 50 as a method of early detection of cancer when curative treatment can be given.
Tackle aims to advise patients of different pathways for medicine and care. The charity is looking forward to hosting the Europa Uomo conference on 13th June 2014 where the European Prostate Cancer Coalition groups will assemble in the UK for the first time and discuss new research to help improve prostate cancer care.
Please visit our new website to find out more information on testing days, your local support groups or how to get involved at www.tackleprostate.org or call 0845 601 0766 for the National Help Line.
Note to Editors
Professor Ken Muir, Universities of Warwick and Manchester Medical Schools, Epidemiology Department, Dr Jon Rees, GP, and Dr. Frank Chinegwundoh, Consultant Urological Surgeon, are available for interview.
For press enquiries please contact Jana Pavelkova on 0207 831 2225.
Email: [email protected]
