PROSTATE CANCER AWARENESS WEEK - FIONA ASKS EUROPE FOR VITAL EVIDENCE (Fiona Hall MEP)

Fiona Hall MEP <info@fionahall.org.uk>

PROSTATE CANCER AWARENESS WEEK - FIONA ASKS EUROPE FOR VITAL EVIDENCE

March 16, 2007 12:00 AM

Fiona Hall is marking Prostate Cancer Awareness week this week by asking the European Commission to speed up the analysis of the results of screening trials in Europe. The trials will help to establish a consensus on the best treatment for early stage prostate cancer.

Backing a Liberal Democrat question submitted to the European Commission, Fiona Hall MEP for the North East, who is a member of the cross party group MEPs Against Cancer, said:

"Prostate cancer is the most frequently diagnosed form of cancer in men yet there remains a lack of consensus on the best treatment for the disease at an early stage of diagnosis.

"There are 32,000 cases of prostate cancer in the UK with 59 per 100,000 in the North East. "

Liberal Democrats have asked the European Commission to speed up the analysis of screening trials that are being carried out in the UK and across Europe.

Speaking on the importance of these trials to early stage prostate cancer patients in the North East, Fiona Hall said:

"If the European Commission agrees to speed up the analysis of the results from these trials they will secure a scientific base for policy decisions on prostate cancer and population screening."

Prostate cancer is rare in men of under 50 years old, but gets more common as men get older.

In 1999, for the first time, the incidence of prostate cancer exceeded that of lung cancer in men. In 2002, there were 26,811 newly diagnosed cases of prostate cancer in England.

The three main treatment options for prostate cancer are: active monitoring, which involves regular monitoring of a patient by a urologist; radical prostatectomy, which aims to remove the entire prostate gland; and radiotherapy, which is intended to cure the disease. There is no clinical

There is currently insufficient evidence to show that screening would reduce deaths from prostate cancer.

Prostate Cancer Awareness Week is 19 - 25 March 2007