Nearly a quarter of prostate cancer patients at WUTH diagnosed late

Prostate Cancer Research has found many NHS trusts across the country lack key diagnostic techniques and treatments, meaning many people are only getting diagnosed when the disease has already spread.

Early diagnosis is crucial to survival as just a third of patients live for five years or more once the cancer spreads beyond the prostate.

The figures show 22% of people with prostate cancer were diagnosed at an advanced stage at Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in 2022 – more than the average of 17% in England and one of the worst rates in the country.

Analysis suggests more than 2,600 lives could be saved across the country if late diagnosis was cut to 5% – the lowest level achieved by a hospital trust – across the board.

There were also significant regional disparities, with 16 out of the 20 trusts with the highest rate of late diagnosis located in the north, while 13 of the 20 best performing ones were in the south.

'We are seriously concerned'

Oliver Kemp, chief executive of Prostate Cancer Research, said: "We are seriously concerned that some parts of the UK don’t have the same level of equipment or testing capacity as others.

"This is now being borne out with a significant increase in late-stage cancers being diagnosed in these areas.

"Patients know all too well that these cancers come with much lower chances of living for five years or more."

Diagnostics can include biopsies and different type of scans. Five out of nine were available at Wirral University Teaching Hospital last year.

Patients at the trust also had access to five out of nine treatment options, which can include chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Overall, there were more options for both diagnostics and treatments in the south of England. Trusts there also offered more support services, such as psychological and genetic counselling.

Earlier this year Prostate Cancer UK warned 10,000 men are diagnosed too late for a cure each year.

However, their analysis of the National Prostate Cancer Audit showed English regions had begun to tackle the pandemic backlog and referrals were above pre-pandemic levels in 2022.

Laura Kerby, chief executive at Prostate Cancer UK, said: "Unfortunately, early prostate cancer usually doesn’t have any symptoms, which is why men need to be aware of their risk and should take our online risk checker to find out more.

"If you’re at higher risk – which includes all men over 50 – you're entitled to a free PSA blood test from your GP.

"Because of their higher risk, we strongly recommend that black men and men with a family history of prostate cancer should speak to their GP from the age of 45."

What did WUTH say?

A Wirral University Teaching Hospital spokesperson said: “Early diagnosis of prostate cancer is extremely important and has always been a priority for our Trust.

“The data relates to patients treated or diagnosed at Wirral University Teaching Hospital (WUTH), but referred from other services including outside Wirral, between April 2020 to March 2021, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then we opened the Clatterbridge Diagnostics Centre in July 2021 to improve outcomes for patients, including those with cancer. This has increased capacity across our Trust to diagnose more patients not only in Wirral but across the region. We are opening a second Diagnostics Centre at our Clatterbridge site next year which will have a focus on the diagnosis of prostate cancer given that WUTH is a tertiary centre for this service.

“This year we also invested in a state-of-the-art Da Vinci robot at our newly developed GIRFT- accredited Cheshire and Merseyside Surgical Centre at Clatterbridge Hospital, allowing more patients to be treated, including those with cancer.”