UK to Trial Enhanced Prostate Screening for Black Men Aged 45-74 With £18m Investment

Tens of thousands more black men aged 45-74 will be invited for prostate cancer checks as part of the Transform trial. The UK government announced it will invest £18 million to expand the trial, which began inviting participants earlier in 2026. All black men in that age group who have not had a recent PSA test will be offered the chance to take part.

The trial is testing whether additional checks, including genetic tests and faster MRI scans, can improve screening accuracy beyond the PSA blood test alone. The UK National Screening Committee recommended against offering regular PSA testing to most men.

The committee stated that the harms of using the test for screening outweigh the benefits in the majority of cases, except for a few thousand men who carry a dangerous genetic variant and have a family history of cancer.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK. Each year 64,000 men are diagnosed and 12,000 die from the disease. One in eight men will develop prostate cancer in their lifetime; for black men the lifetime risk doubles to one in four.

Health Secretary James Murray said the expansion represented a major step forward. Prostate Cancer UK said it was delighted by the decision.

The charity said the move would help it reach more black men with clear, trusted information. Prof Prabhakar Rajan, professor of urology and robotic surgery at Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, welcomed the inclusion of more black men.

"Black men have historically been under-represented in prostate cancer research despite being disproportionately affected by the disease," he said.

It remains uncertain whether prostate cancers in black men are more dangerous than those in other groups. The National Screening Committee will monitor evidence from the trial to determine whether screening programmes should be adjusted or widened in the future. Experts continue to seek better screening methods because blood tests alone are not accurate enough for most men.

People are advised not to ignore symptoms such as difficulty urinating and to discuss PSA testing with their doctor if concerned.